GROWING LOCAL: A Community Guide to Planning for Agriculture and Food Systems
This guide is meant to help communities remove public policy barriers and advance policy solutions to strengthen community food systems. It builds upon
successful examples that ensure communities support local farms and protect farmland, support the infrastructure needed to get food from farm to plate, and provide all community residents with access to healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food. It shares principles and practices, and provides a comprehensive collection of local policies available to help farmers and other community members work with public and private partners to advance food system planning, policy, and public investment.
This guide is intended for various audiences, from farmers to food policy councils, and including local health officials, planning commissions, nonprofits and civic organizations, and others working to support local food production and improve community food security. It is organized to be used online and/or in print. The complete guide is available for free here or choose a section below to explore in the order you find most useful.
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Provides an overview of food system planning.
- Why Plan for Agriculture and Food Systems?: Learn more about why it is important to plan for agriculture and food systems.
- Creating a Common Language: Highlights key terms and language.
- Principles and Practices for Planning and Policy Making: Outlines important steps to take when planning for agriculture and food systems.
- Implementation Toolbox: Compilation of examples policies and tools for planning for agriculture and food production; markets and infrastructure; and, food access and health.
- Final Words: Closing remarks and a charge for the future of planning for agriculture and food systems.
- Notes: Guide citations
- Resources: Collection of additional resources such as funding sources and examples plans.
- Is Your Community Farm Friendly Checklist? Is Your Community Food Friendly? : Use these checklists to evaluate how your community doing!