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.