Beginning in 2012, Growing Food Connections conducted a national scan and identified 299 local governments across the United States that are developing and implementing a range of innovative plans, public programs, regulations, laws, financial investments and other policies to strengthen the food system. GFC conducted exploratory telephone interviews with 20 of these urban and rural local governments. Exploring Stories of Innovation highlight the innovative food systems planning and policy work from some of these communities.

• Advancing Local Food Policy in Cabarrus County, North Carolina: Successes and Challenges in a Changing Political Climate
• Baltimore City, Maryland: A Food in all Policies Approach in a Post-Industrial City
• Building from the Inside Out in Region 5, Minnesota: A Rural Region’s Effort to Build a Resilient Food System
• Championing Food Systems Policy Change in Seattle, Washington
• Cleveland, Ohio: A Local Government’s Transition from an Urban Agriculture Focus to a Comprehensive Food Systems Policy Approach
• Healthy Food System in the Heartland: Intergovernmental Cooperation in the City of Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas Advances Food Policy
• Leading the Way: A Legacy of Food Systems Planning and Policy Work in Multnomah County, Oregon
• Lessons From an Agricultural Preservation Leader: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
• Mayoral Leadership Sparks Lasting Food Systems Policy Change in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Multi-level Governmental Support Paves the Way for Local Food in Chittenden County, Vermont
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A Mayor’s Office and Health Department Lead the Way in Municipal Food Policymaking
• Private-Public Partnerships: Cornerstone of Food Systems Planning and Policy in Rural Marquette County, Michigan

Translating Research for Policy is a series of policy briefs that brings original and published research on food systems planning to the attention of a broad audience of food system practitioners, local governments, planners and policy makers.

Refugees and Food Experiences: New Research from Buffalo, NY translates research findings from the journal article Planning the City of Good (and New) Neighbours: Refugees; Experiences of the Food Environment in Buffalo, New York, originally published in the journal Built Environment. The research documents how refugees resettled from Burma navigate a new food environment in Buffalo, New York, one of the top 10 refugee resettlement cities in the US. Refugees report challenges in acquiring culturally preferred, affordable, and safe foods, and share ways in which they adapt to a new food environment. The brief includes three key recommendations for local governments: to amplify the voices of refugees in planning and policy processes; increase access to land for food production; and promote civic-public collaboration among local government and refugee resettlement organizations.

How Food Policy Emerges  shares the work found in the journal article Rustbelt Radicalism: A decade of food systems planning in Buffalo, New York, originally published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. How Food Policy Emerges documents how community activists, coined Rustbelt Radicals, use community-led practice to shape local government policy in Buffalo, New York. Their incremental yet collective transformation of the food system in a limited-resource community offers a paradigm of change for other post-industrial cities.  The brief features seven factors that bring food to the public policy table, offering a blueprint for communities looking to shift from food-blind plans and policies to introducing food as a public issue in their community.

Growing Food Connections offers five series of briefs that translate research, both original and previously published, in a way that is useful for planning and policy audiences.

1. Dillemuth, Ann and Kimberley Hodgson. 2018. “Championing Food Systems Policy Development and Change in Marquette County, Michigan.” In Innovation Deep Dive. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 11 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
2. Entress, Sharon, Alexandra Judelsohn, Brenda Stynes and Samina Raja. 2018. “Refugees and Food Experiences: Insights from Research in Buffalo, NY.” In Translating Research for Policy Series. Edited by Samina Raja, 7 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
3. Hall, Enjoli and Samina Raja. 2018a. “Seeding Food Justice: Community-Led Practices for Local Government Policy in Dougherty County, Georgia.” In Exploring Stories of Opportunity. Edited by Samina Raja, 20 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
4. Hall, Enjoli and Samina Raja. 2018b. “Towards Health Equity in the Heartland: Advancing Community-Led Food Planning in Douglas County, Nebraska.” In Exploring Stories of Opportunity. Edited by Samina Raja, 10 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
5. Hodgson, Kimberley. 2018. “Growing Deep Roots in Seattle: Embedding Food Systems Planning and Policy in Municipal Government.” In Innovation Deep Dive. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 14 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
6. Raj, Subhashni, Joseph E. Quinn, and Samina Raja. 2018. “Supporting the Chile Capital of the Southwest: The Role of Local Government in Sustaining Farming Traditions in Luna County, New Mexico.” In Exploring Stories of Opportunity. Edited by Samina Raja, 13 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
7. Raj, Subhashni and Samina Raja. 2018. “Agrarian Values and Urban Futures: Challenges and Opportunities for Agriculture and Food Security in Doña Ana County, New Mexico.” In Exploring Stories of Opportunity. Edited by Samina Raja, 14 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
8. Dillemuth, Ann. 2017a. “Community Food Production: The Role of Local Governments in Increasing Community Food Production for Local Markets.” In Planning and Policy Briefs. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 12 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
9. Dillemuth, Ann. 2017b. “Community Food Systems and Economic Development: The Role of Local Governments in Supporting Local Food Economies.” In Planning and Policy Briefs. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 12 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
10. Dillemuth, Ann. 2017c. “Farmland Protection: The Role of Local Governments in Protecting Farmland as a Vital Local Resource.” In Planning and Policy Briefs. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 12 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
11. Leccese, Jeanne, and Samina Raja. 2017. “Building on the Strengths of Land and Sea: Policy opportunities for Strengthening the Food System in Cumberland County, Maine.” In Exploring Stories of Opportunity. Edited by Samina Raja, 9 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
12. Martin, Kara, and K. Hodgson. 2017. “Moving from Resilient Planning to Implementation: Minnesota’s Region 5 Transforms its Food System.” In Innovation Deep Dive. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 13 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
13. Whittaker, Jennifer, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2017. “Empowering the Community to Lead: Food Systems Planning and Policy in Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas.” In Innovation Deep Dive. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 13 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
14. Whittaker, Jennifer, and Samina Raja. 2017. “Building on History and Tradition: Community Efforts to Strengthen Food Systems in Polk County, North Carolina.” In Exploring Stories of Opportunity. Edited by Samina Raja, 11 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
15. Dillemuth, Ann. 2016. “Leading the Way A Legacy of Food Systems Planning and Policy Work in Multnomah County, Oregon.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 4 pages. Buffalo: Growing Foods Connections Project.
16. Dillemuth, Ann, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2016a. “Food Aggregation, Processing, and Distribution.” In Planning and Policy Briefs. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 9 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
17. Dillemuth, Ann, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2016b. “Incentivizing the Sale of Healthy and Local Food.” In Planning and Policy Briefs. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 8 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
18. Hodgson, Kimberley, and Zsuzsi Fodor. 2016. “Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A Mayor’s Office and Health Department Lead the Way in Municipal Food Policymaking.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 3 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
19. Hodgson, Kimberley, and Kara Martin. 2016. “Building from the Inside Out in Region 5, Minnesota: A Rural Region’s Effort to Build a Resilient Food System.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 4 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
20. Hodgson, Kimberley, and Kelley Mosher. 2016. “Private-Public Partnerships: Cornerstone of Food Systems Planning and Policy in Rural Marquette County, Michigan.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 3 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
21. Raj, Subhashni and Samina Raja. 2016. “Growing a Local Food Economy for a Healthy Wyandotte.” In Exploring Stories of Opportunity, Edited by Samina Raja and Jeanne Leccese, 10 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
22. Whittaker, Jennifer, and Samina Raja. 2016. “Bridging Divides: Opportunity for Connecting Farmers and Underserved Consumers in Chautauqua County, New York.” In Exploring Stories of Opportunity. Edited by Samina Raja and Jeanne Leccese, 8 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
23. Dillemuth, Ann, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2015. “Local, Healthy Food Procurement Policies.” In Planning and Policy Briefs. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 5 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
24. Fodor, Zsuzsi, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2015a. “Cleveland, Ohio: A Local Government’s Transition from an Urban Agriculture Focus to a Comprehensive Food Systems Policy Approach.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 3 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
25. Fodor, Zsuzsi, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2015b. “Healthy Food System in the Heartland: Intergovernmental Cooperation in the City of Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas Advances Food Policy.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 3 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
26. Hodgson, Kimberley. 2015. “Advancing Local Food Policy in a Changing Political Climate: Cabarrus County, NC.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 3 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
27. Hodgson, Kimberley, and Zsuzsi Fodor. 2015. “Mayoral Leadership Sparks Lasting Food Systems Policy Change in Minneapolis, Minnesota.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 3 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
28. Hodgson, Kimberley, Zsuzsi Fodor, and Maryam Khojasteh. 2015. “Multi-level Governmental Support Paves the Way for Local Food in Chittenden County, Vermont.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 5 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
29. Whittaker, Jennifer, and Samina Raja. 2015. “How Food Policy Emerges: Research Suggests Community-Led Practice Shapes Policy.” In Translating Research for Policy Series. Edited by Samina Raja and Jeanne Leccese, 4 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
30. Whitton, Elizabeth, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2015a. “Championing Food Systems Policy Change: City of Seattle, WA.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 2 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
31. Whitton, Elizabeth, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2015b. “Lessons from an Agricultural Preservation Leader: Lancaster County, PA.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 2 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project.
32. Whitton, Elizabeth, Jeanne Leccese, and Kimberley Hodgson. 2015. “A Food in All Policies Approach in a Post-Industrial City: Baltimore City, MD.” In Exploring Stories of Innovation. Edited by Kimberley Hodgson and Samina Raja, 3 pages. Buffalo: Growing Food Connections Project. 

The Growing Food Connections Essential Food Systems Reader is a collection of published resources that explore local and regional level public policy challenges and opportunities related to the following issues:

• Community food production: efforts to grow, raise and harvest crops, raise animals, fish, hunt or forage food for human consumption in urban, suburban and rural areas
• Community food security: the state in which all members of a community have sufficient and adequate access to healthy, affordable and culturally acceptable food, particularly under-served residents in urban, suburban and rural areas
• Community food connections: the challenges and opportunities of simultaneously improving community food production viability and food security for under-served residents.

The Essential Food Systems Reader includes carefully selected professional reports and articles, books, peer-reviewed journal articles and other resources such as fact sheets, briefing papers and white papers from the American Planning Association, the American Farmland Trust, and other national membership organizations, federal agencies and non-profit organizations. Unlike traditional food systems bibliographies, the Essential Food Systems Reader focuses on resources related to public policy, and the role of the local or regional government in improving community food production and community food security. Collectively, the Essential Food Systems Reader provides a foundation of knowledge on these topics – a starting place for communities wishing to tackle these important issues.

Getting to Grocery: Tools for Attracting Healthy Food Retail to Underserved Neighborhoods

Date: 2012

This report identifies the challenges and opportunities of bringing a grocery store into low-income neighborhoods. The report presents various ideas to attract more businesses to open in these types of neighborhoods, and offers tools to help advocates …

Green for Greens: Finding Public Financing for Healthy Food Retail

Author(s): Unger, Serena, Laurison, Hannah, Fry, Christine

Date: 2012

This guide provides a general overview of economic development and ideas for how to approach economic development agencies with healthy food retail proposals. It also provides a comprehensive overview of local, state, and federal economic development p …

Health on the Shelf: A Guide to Healthy Small Food Retailer Certification Programs

Author(s): Fry, Christine, Levitt, Zoe, Ackerman, Amy, Burton Laurison, Hannah

Date: 2013

This guide describes how to create a strong healthy small food retailer certification program that requires participating stores to increase the variety of healthy foods they sell, reduce the offerings of unhealthy foods, and proactively market healthy …

Increasing Farm Income and Local Food Access: A Case Study of a Collaborative Aggregation, Marketing, and Distribution Strategy that Links Farmers to Markets

Author(s): Schmidt, Michele C., Kolodinsky, Jane M., DeSisto, Thomas P., Conte, Faye C.

Date: 2011

This article reviews the development and outcomes of the Intervale Food Hub in Burlington, Vermont using a participatory action research approach. The authors suggest that the case study offers promising practices and limitations that could benefit the …

Is Your Town Farm-Friendly?

Author(s): Maine Farmland Trust

Date: n/a

A helpful checklist that provides guidance on local government-level policies that support local farms. The checklist is a useful snapshot for farm-friendly policies.

Licensing for Lettuce: A Guide to the Model Licensing Ordinance for Healthy Food Retailers

Date: 2013

This resource provides a model ordinance that requires food retailers, especially corner stores, to stock healthier products. The ordinance changes business licensing policies to require all food stores (not including restaurants) to carry a minimum se …

Local Agricultural Preservation: Making the Food System Connection

Author(s): Russell, Joel

Date: 2011

This PAS Memo begins by setting the context for the local food movement and its relationship to planning and economic development, showing why local food is important and why its economic importance has been undervalued in the past. The PAS Memo descri …

North American Food Sector, Part One: Program Scan and Literature Review

Author(s): Pansing, Cynthia, Wasserman, Arlin, Fisk, John, Muldoon, Michelle, Kiraly, Stacia, Benjamin, Tavia

Date: 2013

The first part of a three-part publication, this resource provides an overview of food sector research and practices in cities across North America. The resource assembles a body of research that cities can use to inform decision-making about where to …

Planning for Agriculture in New York: A toolkit for Towns and Counties

Author(s): Haight, David, Held, Diane

Date: 2011

This guide helps communities engage farmers and rural landowners in local planning efforts; assesses current town policies and their effectiveness; and provides a range of tools available to help New York towns and counties support local farms. The gui …

Planning for Agriculture: A Guide for Connecticut Municipalities

Date: 2012

This guide provides a primer and introductory toolkit for planners and municipal officials in Connecticut on planning for agriculture. It outlines a broad range of tools and resources available to help local governments plan for agriculture. The guide …

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Growing Food Connections shares a variety of tools and resources to help facilitate equitable, healthy, and sustainable food systems through local government planning and policy.

Essential Food Systems Reader 

Growing Food Connections provides a free online Essential Food Systems Reader that comprises the key policy briefs, articles, and reports for someone who is beginning to learn about food systems planning.

GROWING LOCAL: A Community Guide to Planning for Agriculture and Community Food Systems (Released 2017)

This guide is based on the findings from the Research component of GFC and intended for various audiences, including farmers, municipal and county officials, agricultural organizations, local food policy councils, county health agencies, planning commissions, and citizens’ groups concerned about sustaining healthy farms and assuring universal access to healthy food. View the guide here.