Food Systems

This guide from the Growing Food Connections project 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, practices, and examples 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.

A project website offers individual downloads of different sections of the guide, including a glossary of food systems terms, an implementation toolkit, and farming-friendly community checklists.