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1. Center for Science and Democracy
2. » Connecting Scientists and Communities
Healthy Food in Your Community: A Toolkit for Policy Change
October 2014
Learn how to navigate the food policy system and join in efforts to
make healthy, affordable food part of your community's landscape.
Download
Food policy toolkit Additional food policy resources Source notes
On The Equation:
Redefining Food Narratives: Thoughts and Reflections of a Rising Black
Fooducator
by Myeasha Taylor
Choose Healthy Food Policies, Not Just Healthy Food
by Andrew Rosenberg
Why is unhealthy food so much easier to buy than fruits and vegetables?
Why do some neighborhoods lack stores selling affordable fresh food?
And why is adult and childhood obesity so prevalent in the United
States? The answer to all these questions is that our current food
system is inadequate to make healthy food available for everyone.
But change is possible—and the route to healthier food policies starts
with you. Our new resource, Healthy Food in Your Community, offers
tools that will help you participate in the policy decisions that shape
your community’s access to healthy food. This toolkit will demystify
the often overwhelming world of food policy and provide practical tips
and resources for getting involved.
You will learn what are the key issues and policies affecting food
access, how food policy decisions are made, and how you can build
relationships within your community and take effective action.
Navigating the Food System
We encounter food and information about food in a wide range of
settings, and food policy affects healthy food access in all of them:
* At the grocery store, policies ranging from federal legislation to
local zoning ordinances can shape affordability, accessibility, and
financial viability.
* At restaurants. Food policy can be a tool to help reduce the
negative impact of fast-food restaurants on the health of
marginalized communities.
* On the label. Food labels can be a source of clear, science-based
information, or a vehicle for marketing tactics, depending on
policy decisions.
* In schools. Food served in school has a powerful impact on
children's health, and policies to improve the nutritional quality
of school meals are currently sparking lively debate.
* From the farm. The $100 billion federal Farm Bill affects healthy
food access in many ways, with provisions that influence what
farmers grow, what it costs, and how and where it is sold.
__________________________________________________________________
Identifying Policy Levers
Photo: DC Greens/Flickr
A variety of different policy tools can be used to improve health food
access and affordability:
* Planning. Cities can incorporate strategies for increasing healthy
food access into the planning documents that guide their
development policies.
* Licensing and permitting policies can be revised to encourage
farmers markets and other healthy food outlets.
* Laws governing land use and zoning can be used to promote healthy
food access—Boston's Urban Agriculture Initiative is a recent
example.
* Financial tools can be used to promote healthy food through
targeted application of federal appropriations, incentives to
establish or expand healthy food businesses, special taxes on
unhealthy foods, or procurement policies that commit public
institutions to purchasing healthy food.
* Food-specific regulations are produced by federal, state and local
agencies to implement standards and policy goals spelled out in
legislation.
__________________________________________________________________
Recognizing Who Makes the Decisions
In order to change food policy, we have to understand how—and by
whom—it is made. This can be challenging, since food policy decisions
are made and implemented by several branches and levels of government.
Across local, state, and national levels, this section of the toolkit
will help you learn about the key decision makers involved in the food
policy issues you care most about, as well as how you can engage them
and make your voice heard.
__________________________________________________________________
Building Relationships
Photo: tracktwentynine/Flickr
Everyone is a stakeholder in our food system, and changing that system
for the better requires building strong partnerships with a broad range
of those stakeholders. In order to do this, it's important to
understand who is already working on food issues in your community, and
whose voices are being heard (or excluded) in policy discussions.
The Building Relationships section of the toolkit offers a detailed
view of the various stakeholders, their roles, and tips to help you
build more effective partnerships and increase the impact of your
actions.
__________________________________________________________________
Taking Action
Photo: DC Greens/Flickr
You've developed an in-depth understanding of your community's food
system, identified the key policy levers and decision makers, and begun
making connections with other community stakeholders. Now it's time to
act. The toolkit offers a wide range of resources to help you be a more
effective healthy food advocate:
* Food policy web resources that can help you stay on top of the
rapidly changing food policy landscape.
* Evidence-based information sources that can help you bolster your
advocacy with the best available information from scientists,
economists and public health researchers.
* Data visualization tools that can provide powerful visual
reinforcement for key points.
* Pointers to help you strengthen your approach and amplify your
impact.
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Related Content
* Expand Healthy Food Access
* Science, Democracy, and a Healthy Food Policy
* Working Toward a More Equitable Food System
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