Planning and Community Health Research Center

Food Systems

Food is essential to life and culture, providing nourishment and nutrition to the human body and expression of traditions and heritage. Yet our current food system (the production, transformation, distribution, access, consumption, and disposal of food at a national, regional and local level) is not working.

Obesity and associated chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes are threatening public health, spanning across all economic levels and races, with the highest concentrations among minority and low-income populations. Poor, underserved communities are plagued with an overabundance of unhealthy food and a shortage of healthy food. Conventional agricultural practices are energy intensive and inefficient, negatively impact air and water pollution, and contribute to the loss of native vegetation and biodiversity. Few adults and children understand where food comes from and how it is grown.

Despite these problems, planners play an important role in the development of healthy, sustainable food systems that support and enhance the overall public, social, ecological, and economic health of communities.

From the preservation and development of sustainable rural and urban farms and agricultural practices to the provision of healthy, sustainable food in food stores, restaurants, farmers' markets, and community gardens, planners can help build stronger, ecologically sustainable, culturally diverse, equitable and more self-reliant community and regional food systems.

Access to Healthy Food

The majority of Americans do not meet the Healthy People 2010 objective for fruit and vegetable consumption. However, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is associated with positive growth and development, weight management, and a decreased risk for chronic disease.

Despite these findings, many children and adults, particularly in low-income households, do not have access to fresh, affordable produce and other healthy foods. Low-income, minority neighborhoods throughout the nation, face disproportionate rates of obesity and chronic disease. This may be due in large part to easy access to fast-food restaurants and convenience stores and unavailability of larger food stores and other sources of healthy, affordable foods such as farmers' markets and urban agriculture.

Americans get their food from grocery and convenience stores, fast-food restaurants, farmers' markets, urban agriculture, and community supported agriculture. Some areas benefit from food and nutrition programs such as community gardens, urban farms, and farm to institution programs.

The availability of healthy and unhealthy foods in a community is fundamentally driven by a number of factors:

• proximity of food outlets to schools and residential areas
• prevalence and types of food outlets available in neighborhoods
• the presence of food and nutrition programs in a community
• local policy and regulatory framework (e.g. food policy councils, food charters, school food policy, local plan-making, zoning regulations, design regulations, and other standards)

Planners play an important role in assessing existing food access disparities, shaping the food environment of communities, and facilitating healthy eating.

APA's Commitment

Committed to expanding upon the research, education and policy development in the area of food systems planning, the American Planning Association released a Policy Guide on Community and Regional Food Planning in 2007. This guide provides an overview of the connections between planning practice and the production, processing, packaging, distribution, transportation, access, consumption, and waste disposal of food.

Since 2007, APA has continued its efforts to provide practicing planners and allied professionals with guidance on how to improve the local food system. The PAS Essential Info Packet on Food Systems Planning is a collection of documents compiled in response to inquiries from over 1,500 PAS subscribers on the topic of food systems planning. The September/October 2007 issue of PAS Memo, "Community and Regional Food Planning," is dedicated to providing readers with a brief overview of community and regional food planning.

More recently, APA published Planning Advisory Service (PAS) Report 554, A Planners Guide to Community and Regional Food Planning: Transforming Food Environments, Facilitating Health Eating and an issue of Zoning Practice, "Zoning for Public Markets and Street Vendors." The PAS report, coauthored by Samina Raja, Branden Born, and Jessica Kozlowski Russell, provides practicing planners with a common understanding of community and regional food planning and an overview of best practices of planning related programmatic and policy efforts to plan for a healthy, sustainable community and regional food system. The Zoning Practice issue discusses the regulation of public markets and street vendors through zoning, business licensing, and other standards such as fees and taxes.

APA also published a special issue of Planning magazine on food systems planning. This special "Food Factor" issue features content related to healthy eating, food access, urban agriculture, farmland preservation, edible landscaping, vacant property conversion, and an interview with the USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan.