Healthy Retail Collaboration Workbook

Overview

This step-by-step guide discusses strategies for forming 
a partnership among tobacco control, nutrition, and excessive alcohol use prevention programs. Read the examples and case studies to see partnerships in action, and use the activities, scripts, and worksheets to build relationships of your own.

Santa Barbara County Food Action Plan

Overview

The Santa Barbara County Food Action Plan is a strategy-based community “blueprint” for an accessible, thriving, sustainable, and healthy food system. It addresses every aspect of the food system in a way that supports healthy people, a healthy economy, and a healthy environment.

Greensboro Fresh Food Access Plan

Overview

The City's Fresh Food Access Plan focuses on increasing retail access to fresh, local produce in Greensboro’s food deserts. The plan was made possible by a grant from a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) program aimed at supporting local food business enterprises that connect farmers with consumers. This includes expanding entrepreneurial opportunities both for local farmers and residents interested in starting local food-related businesses.
 

Assessing and Addressing Farm Worker Food Security, Yolo County, 2015

Overview

California Institute for Rural Studies assessed the food assistance resources in Yolo County and the level of food insecurity among selected Yolo County farm workers living in a rural food desert. The project was designed to address the USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program priorities by determining the level of farm worker food security and planning long-term solutions utilizing the existing network of food assistance resources in Yolo County.
 

The Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices

Overview

The Local Food System Toolkit was developed by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to help communities reliably evaluate the economic impact of investing in local and regional food systems. The Local Food System Toolkit provides detailed guidance in seven modules to measure and assess the expected economic impacts of local food investments.

Using real-world projects, experiences, and applied research, it provides grounded, credible, and useable assessment methods. The Local Food System Toolkit can be used by policy makers, community leaders, private businesses or foundations to offer specific estimates that will help them decide whether to invest in initiatives that increase local food activity. 

Profile: Portland Mercado

Overview

The Latino community in Portland, Oregon, has grown rapidly in the last 20 years, from 3.3 percent of Portlanders to 11 percent, and by 2040 it is estimated that 23 percent of the city’s residents will be Latino. This growth, however, has not been accompanied by increases in opportunity.

Recognizing the important link between access to healthy food, economic opportunity, community building, and culture, Hacienda Community Development Center (CDC) secured a federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) grant in 2012 to develop Portland Mercado, an innovative project which includes a Latino cultural space and public market, bringing fresh food and good jobs to the community.

Communities of Innovation: Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Overview

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is known for its well-regarded agricultural land preservation program. Located in southeastern Pennsylvania, the county of a half-million people uses plans and policies to support agriculture and other components of their economy.

Communities of Innovation: Cabarrus County, North Carolina

Overview

Cabarrus County is an innovative, agricultural community that has experienced both tremendous political successes and setbacks to strengthening its local food system. Between 2008 and 2014, the county government took important steps towards institutionalizing and funding local food systems policy and programmatic work by establishing a food policy council and creating a local food system program coordinator position.

In June 2014, due to significant and unexpected budget cuts, the county government cut financial support for this work and eliminated the local food system program coordinator position. The following feature highlights these successes and setbacks and provides a summary of how the community is moving forward in light of its current struggles with maintaining ongoing political support for local food system work.

Communities of Innovation: Baltimore City, Maryland

Overview

Baltimore City, Maryland faces many of the same food system opportunities and challenges of other post-industrial cities, but the municipal government is aggressively pursuing a “food in all policies” approach by engaging agencies throughout the city. This feature highlights the initial efforts that established this approach, including an effort to institutionalize intergovernmental collaboration, and a few of the subsequent policies aimed at improving food access and supporting urban agriculture throughout the city.

Communities of Innovation: Seattle, Washington

Overview

The ability to address community challenges collectively and adapt to changing needs is critical to community sustainability. Those towns that are able to work cooperatively are usually linked by both economic and social relationships and are able to develop a deep sense of community and even entrepreneurship. Furthermore, these communities encourage diversity, inclusivity and acceptance, and innovativeness, features that contribute to overall quality of life and attracting and retaining new residents. Through a combined approach of visionary leadership, long-range planning, departmental coordination, public-private partnerships, and public funding for innovative programs, the Seattle municipal government is taking a leading role in strengthening the regional food system. The following feature highlights a few of the municipal government’s landmark efforts to improve access to healthy food for its residents while simultaneously improving the viability of regional agriculture.

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