Roles of Cities in Creating Healthful Food Systems

Over the past several decades, cities worldwide have attempted to reconfigure their food systems to improve public health, advance social justice, and promote environmental resilience using diverse municipal policies, often with the support of stakeholder-led governance mechanisms such as food policy councils. This article reviews the roles that cities have played in creating healthful urban food systems and the effects of those policies on public health. It explains that despite wide-ranging policy initiatives, disparities in food insecurity and malnourishment persist. It concludes by describing several promising pathways for urban food policy: engaging in food-focused urban planning to create equitable food environments; treating policies to address inequality and social justice as upstream food policies; considering the effects of new business models such as online food retail in urban food policy making; and using food procurement as a lever to influence regional, national, and global food systems. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Understanding Food Policy Councils: Lessons for Extension Partners

This paper presents findings from a survey of 34 food policy councils (FPCs) in California. The survey addressed organizational structure and functions, policy priorities and achievements, and the use of research or other information. We find that most FPCs have formed in recent years, operate with small budgets and limited or no staff, and function primarily to foster network relationships. FPCs rely on community-based knowledge more than academic research, suggesting an opportunity for Extension professionals to lend expertise. We conclude by identifying specific ways Extension professionals can support FPCs as they seek to enhance local and regional food systems.

Toward the commoning of governance

Conventional political thought and practice continue to be stifled by a dilemma of choosing between the ideal imaginaries of State and/or Market solutions. Widely presupposed as the only valid possibilities in both theory and practice, this stale dilemma covers up a real multitude of actually existing alternative approaches to governance practiced in civil society. State/Market approaches are identical in the way that they construct a ‘spectator’ role for communities, who are left to choose between their preferred set of rules and norms developed elsewhere. The concept of commoning governance offers an opportunity to break free of this stalemate. It creates a new role for citizens and their communities as ‘sparring partners’; who although they operate within the limits of current State/Market institutions, create new norms and rules against and beyond them. In the paper, we first expand on our understanding of commoning governance: re-designing governance arrangements to serve the common good. That is here understood in terms of (radical) democracy, solidarity and sustainable ecological relationships. Second, we illustrate how commoning efforts on the ground contribute to the reclaiming of the democratic imaginary as a political arena by zooming in to a case study of the three cities involved in civic-led network of German Food Policy Councils. Finally, we reflect on the empirical barriers that communities of commoning endure, and call on policymakers, planners and scholars to interrogate their own normative understandings of citizenship and democracy, and begin to recognize theoretical and latent possibilities by enabling commoning with new or re-designed institutions of governance.

Urban Food Strategy in the Making: Context, Conventions and Contestations

Contemporary food systems face several paradoxes regarding equity and sustainability. Considering food production—an issue that simultaneously affects both the supply (production) and demand (consumption) sides—several cities have begun to implement new strategies, called Urban Food Policies. These approaches aim to address the various challenges presented by food system failures, while also involving the existing network of grassroot initiatives. For this reason, these have established Food Policy Councils, arenas where institutions can engage with supply chain actors and food activists, deciding through the processes of participatory democracy their Urban Food Strategies. This article investigates the evolution of a new Urban Food Strategy in a middle-sized Italian town, Trento. Despite a growing number of case studies discussing the promises and problematic aspects of UFS, empirical research and analysis tend to overlook the role of the context in which these processes are embedded and how the system of political, economic, cultural, and environmental opportunities weigh upon the success of these policies. The paper draws upon a multi-method qualitative approach combining in-depth interviews, document analysis, and direct observations of the construction process of an Urban Food Strategy for the city of Trento.

Associations between Food Policy Councils and Policies That Support Healthy Food Access: A National Survey of Community Policy Supports

Food policy councils (FPCs) are one form of community coalition that aims to address challenges to local food systems and enhance availability, accessibility, and affordability of healthy foods for local residents. We used data from the 2014 National Survey of Community-Based Policy and Environmental Supports for Healthy Eating and Active Living, a nationally representative survey of US municipalities (n = 2029), to examine the prevalence of FPCs and cross-sectional associations between FPCs and four types of supports for healthy food access (approaches to help food stores, practices to support farmers markets, transportation-related supports, and community planning documents). Overall, 7.7% of municipalities reported having a local or regional FPC. FPCs were more commonly reported among larger municipalities with ≥50,000 people (29.2%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 21.6, 36.8) and western region municipalities (13.2%, 95% CI: 9.6, 16.8). After multivariable adjustment, municipalities with FPCs had significantly higher odds of having all four types of supports, compared to those without FPCs (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) range: 2.4–3.4). Among municipalities with FPCs (n = 156), 41% reported having a local government employee or elected official as a member, and 46% had a designated health or public health representative. Although FPCs were uncommon, municipalities that reported having a local or regional FPC were more likely to report having supports for healthy food access for their residents.

COVID-19 responses: Food policy councils are “stepping in, stepping up, and stepping back"

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, food policy councils (FPCs) have emerged as a critical struc¬ture for organizing community-based responses to multiple food system issues. Strong relationships with various food system stakeholders have proven essential in inspiring coordinated action. Using the early results of a Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future survey of FPCs (2020), we discuss some of the accomplishments and contributions that 118 FPCs have made toward addressing hunger and supporting producers, school food, food chain workers, racial equity, and resilience in the United States and in tribal nations.

Beiräte als Instrument einer Ernährungswende – Die Etablierung von Ernährungsräten in Deutschland

Zusammenfassung Deutschlandweit sind Ernährungsräte im Kommen. Diese im angelsächsischen Raum als “food policy councils” bekannten Gremien sind überwiegend zivilgesellschaftlich initiiert und versuchen z.B. durch Öffentlichkeitsarbeit oder Forderungen an Politik und Verwaltung eine Ernährungswende voranzubringen. Der Beitrag untersucht die Möglichkeiten einer stärkeren rechtlichen Verankerung dieser Gremien.

Association Between Municipal Food Policy Councils and Local Policies that Support Healthy Eating: A National Survey of Community Policy Supports

Objectives Community efforts to improve access to nutritious foods are one strategy to reduce food insecurity, promote healthy eating, and prevent diet-related chronic diseases. Food policy councils (FPCs) can facilitate relationships between food systems players and implementation of local policy efforts to increase access to healthier foods. This study examined associations between FPCs with local policy supports for healthy food access. Methods We used data from CDC's 2014 National Survey of Community-Based Policy and Environmental Supports for Healthy Eating and Active Living, a nationally representative survey of U.S. municipalities with population ≥1000 (n = 2029). We calculated the prevalence of FPCs, overall and by municipal characteristics including population size, census region, rural/urban status, poverty prevalence, median education level, and racial/ethnic composition. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine cross-sectional associations between FPCs and four types of supports for healthy food access (approaches to help open or improve food stores; practices to support farmers markets; transportation-related supports; and community planning documents). Results Overall, 7.6% of municipalities reported having a local or regional FPC. FPCs were reported more frequently among larger municipalities with ≥50,000 people (29.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 21.6–36.8) compared to smaller municipalities (4.3% for <2500 people; 7.0% for 2500–49,999 people) and among western municipalities (13.2%, CI: 9.6–16.8) compared to other Census regions (5.9% for south; 6.5% for northeast; 7.6% for midwest). After multivariable adjustment, municipalities with FPCs had significantly higher odds of having all four types of policy supports for healthy food access, compared to those without FPCs (aOR range: 2.4–3.4). Among municipalities with a FPC (n = 156), 41% reported a local government employee or elected official as a member and 46% had a designated health or public health representative. Conclusions Although FPCs are uncommon, municipalities that reported having a local or regional FPC were more likely to report having policy supports for healthy food access for their residents. Funding Sources Funding was solely for author's time from their institutions.

New England food policy councils: An assessment of organizational structure, policy priorities and public participation

Food policy councils (FPCs) are an increasingly common mechanism to improve participation in food system decision-making. Including individuals from under-represented groups can foster greater understanding of their needs and experiences with food system barriers and is an important part of food justice. However, engaging under-represented groups in food systems decision-making remains challenging for FPCs. This paper presents the results from a survey of FPCs and networks in New England to: (1) identify FPC policy priorities, (2) characterize FPCs engaged in policy initiatives based on attributes which, based on the literature, may impact effective public participation: geographic scale, organization type, capacity, policy priorities, and membership, and (3) analyze methods for engaging the public in FPC policy initiatives and demographic groups and sectors engaged. Findings indicate only half of New England FPCs work on policy efforts. Many surveyed FPCs engage multiple food system sectors and under-represented groups through a combination of different public participation opportunities. However, results indicate that New England FPCs could benefit from a greater focus on engaging under-represented audiences. FPCs interested in engaging more diverse participants should commit to a focus on food justice, strive for representative membership through intentional recruitment, and offer multiple methods to engage the public throughout policy initiatives.