Access to Healthy Food
Why should we plan for healthy food access?
It is difficult to eat healthy foods if you have nowhere to buy them in your neighborhood. Planners can help make sure people have the resources to make healthy food choices, though.2 Planners can encourage grocery stores in areas that don’t already have them. These provide a range of healthy food options.3 Planners can encourage community gardens and farmers’ markets, which are other sources of healthy food.1,4 Lastly, planners can limit fast food restaurants and convenience stores, which provide unhealthy food options.3 Planners should promote healthy foods and limit unhealthy foods in their community.2 This can improve community health and help prevent obesity.1-4
best practices for urban & Suburban Comprehensive Plans
Click the plus sign (+) to see more information about that best practice.
+ Set specific policies to preserve existing working farms.
- Examples include:
- Right-to-farm and transfer of development rights (TDR) ordinances
- Agribusiness zoning that allows a range of agricultural businesses by right
- Required buffers between agricultural operations and residential development
- Appropriate rural zoning (one unit per at least 5 acres)
- A purchase of development rights program
- Objectives for acreage preservation
- Coordination with surrounding communities and/or use of extraterritorial zoning rights to preserve farmland outside your jurisdiction
-- Set specific policies, objectives, or goals to preserve or develop “urban” or specialty farms, which grow products such as vegetables, herbs, honey, eggs, flowers, and plants for local distribution and sale (in addition to or instead of commodity crops such as corn and soybeans)
+ Set a goal or objective to increase access to healthy food, especially in low-income communities where “food deserts” may exist
- Identify specific geographic areas of need.
- Establish policies for providing these locations with more healthy food options.
+ Set a goal or objective to support the creation and sustainability of community gardens
- Identify specific steps to achieve this goal/objective. Examples include:
- Allowing them by right in most zoning categories
- Allowing them in parks, vacant lots, and on surplus lands
- Providing mini-grants
- Formally collaborating with Cooperative Extension and other organizations
- Identifying potential sites
+ Set a goal or objective to support the creation and sustainability of farmer's markets
- Identify specific steps to achieve this goal/objective. Examples include:
- Allowing them by right in most zoning categories
- Allowing them in parks, vacant lots, and on surplus lands
- Providing mini-grants
- Formally collaborating with Cooperative Extension and other organizations
- Identifying potential sites
+ Set a goal or objective to increase the number of full-service grocery stores in underserved areas
- Identify areas not served by supermarkets and establish strategies for increasing their number.
-- Set a goal or objective to support businesses that provide healthier food and drink options, especially in documented underserved areas
+ Set a goal or objective to increase access to drinking water and/or promote installation of water fountains
- Recommend actions to achieve this goal/objective such as requiring installation of public water fountains in parks, public spaces, and commercial areas where the public is present.
Vacant lots between houses can be used for community gardens. Photo credit: TC Davis.
Farmer’s markets connect farmers with customers in urban areas, and provide healthy food for urban residents. Photo: Washington, DC. Credit: Chris.
Urban farms provide healthy food close to where residents live. Photo: Ohio City Farm, Cleveland, OH. Credit: Horticulture Group.
Best Practices for Rural Comprehensive Plans
Click the plus sign (+) to see more information about that best practice.
-- Set specific policies, objectives, or goals to preserve or develop small-scale farming, specialty agriculture, and/or home gardens that grow non-commodity products such as vegetables, herbs, honey, eggs, flowers, and fruits
+ Set a goal or objective to support the creation and sustainability of community gardens
- Take specific steps to achieve this goal/objective. Examples include:
- Allowing them by right in most zoning categories
- Allowing them in parks, vacant lots, and on surplus lands
- Providing mini-grants for their development
- Formally collaborating with Cooperative Extension and other organizations
- Identifying potential sites
+ Set a goal or objective to support the creation and sustainability of farmer's markets
- Take specific steps to achieve this goal/objective. Examples include:
- Allowing them by right in most zoning categories
- Allowing them in parks, vacant lots, and on surplus lands
- Providing mini-grants for their development
- Formally collaborating with Cooperative Extension and other organizations
- Identifying potential sites
+ Set a goal or objective to support local and/or regional consumption of locally-produced foods
- Identify a strategy to achieve this goal/objective. Examples include:
- Farm-to-school, farm-to-table, or farm-to-institution programs
- Marketing strategies, plans, resources, or programs
- Participation in a regional food policy council
- Participation in a regional food hub
Farmer’s markets in rural communities can help connect growers directly to customers. Photo credit: Berry College.
Farm-to-school programs help promote the consumption of healthy, locally-grown food. Photo credit: Reap Food Group.
Planners can support home gardens, which can provide fresh, healthy produce for families. Photo credit: Lori L. Stalteri.
Resources
U.S. EPA’s Local Foods, Local Places program: Supports locally led, community-driven efforts to protect air and water quality, preserve open space and farmland, boost economic opportunities for local farmers and businesses, improve access to healthy local food, and promote childhood wellness. Toolkit of best practices and lessons learned from Local Foods, Local Places workshops. Project stories from supported communities.
ChangeLab Solutions
Webinar: Building healthy, equitable communities through a just food system
Healthy retail: Tools for promoting accessible & affordable stores with nutritious, healthful options.
Mobilize for Health: Summary of evidence for healthy and local food strategies with implementation resources and examples from Wisconsin communities.
USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas: Interactive map of food access indicators with downloadable data.
REAP Food Group’s Farm Fresh Atlas: Interactive map and print publications of Wisconsin farms, farmers’ markets, stores, and other businesses that sell local food.
REFERENCES
Salois MJ. Obesity and diabetes, the built environment, and the ‘local’ food economy in the United States, 2007. Economics & Human Biology. 2012;10(1):35-42. doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2011.04.001
Story M, Kaphingst KM, Robinson-O’Brien R, Glanz K. Creating Healthy Food and Eating Environments: Policy and Environmental Approaches. Annual Review of Public Health. 2008;29(1):253-272. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.29.020907.090926
Larson NI, Story MT, Nelson MC. Neighborhood Environments Disparities in Access to Healthy Food in the US. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2009;36(1):74-81.e10. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2008.09.025
Berning JP. Access to Local Agriculture and Weight Outcomes. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. 2012;41(01):57-71. doi:10.1017/S1068280500004184