About City Food Policy

Addressing A Global Need

The production, processing, transportation, consumption, and eventual disposal of food and wasted food impact the health and wellness of communities and of the environment; drive regional economic activity; and they reflect core societal values. Our food system contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, soil, water, and air quality. Moreover, labor practices in these industries play a significant role in the economic well-being of people and communities, both urban and rural, that rely on these jobs. Additionally, physical and communal health begins with having access to culturally appropriate, healthy food.

The understanding that food systems play a critical role in achieving more equitable outcomes for human health, economic growth, and the environment is driving governments to create food policies that reflect core societal values.

270 cities have signed onto the the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), an international agreement committed to, “develop sustainable food systems that are inclusive, resilient, safe and diverse, that provide healthy and affordable food to all people in a human rights-based framework, that minimize waste and conserve biodiversity while adapting to and mitigating impacts of climate change”. Hundreds of other cities are engaging with community leaders, the private sector, interest groups, and civil society to leverage the significant buying power and influence of public institutions to create policies that embed their values into procurement decisions.

Addressing this wide array of goals requires evidence-based policy instruments that allow for a holistic view of the food system and can be tailored to each region’s unique circumstances and priorities.

Beautiful vegetables at the farmers market.

Home page and above photo credit: J.Russell/GrowNYC

About the Project: Building a Replicable and Adaptable Model

The City Food Policy Project explores the potential of cities to use food procurement policies to advance social, environmental, and economic goals for themselves and their surrounding regions while benefiting the health and nutritional wellbeing of the people who provide, and who are served by, publicly procured food.

CFPP brings together researchers, policy practitioners, and food system stakeholders (local and international) to compile and validate data, analyze potential policy actions, and to baseline and map out the existing supply chains that feed a particular city. In doing so, CFPP will develop the empirical tools that inform how cities understand tradeoffs associated with how values-based food procurement policies are implemented.

Integrating stakeholders into the process of designing, validating, interpreting, and disseminating research is part of what sets this project apart from other research studies.

Agent Based Model Chart

The Model:

Drawing on publicly available data as well as input from food and agriculture stakeholders around New York State, this three-year research collaborative adapts an agent-based research model, building upon past agent-based modeling work in Denver, Colorado.

The CFPP model allows for the simulation of complex systems and the emergent behavior that may result from the autonomous actions of system agents with each other and their environment.

This model can simulate a variety of potential changes to a city’s food policy environment and to observe any resulting effects or feedback throughout various stages of the supply chain.

The Implications

If successful, we anticipate three major outcomes:

  • 1

    NYC will operationalize values-based food procurement in a way that more effectively meets its regional environmental and local economic goals.

  • 2

    Regional food system stakeholders will be more meaningfully engaged in NYC’s food policy discussions, leading to improved environmental and economic outcomes, as well as enhanced social cohesion.

  • 3

    The modeling approach, engagement process, and results will be leveraged by other cities in the U.S. and internationally to more systematically and inclusively consider the tradeoffs and opportunities in food procurement policies.

“As cities across the world leverage public food procurement to meet a myriad of climate, health, community development and economic goals, it is critical to understand the tradeoffs and co-benefits of these policies and programs. This research will be guided by partners in New York City working with farmers and other supply chain stakeholders in New York State and supported by a national and international advisory team to support model replicability.”

— Dr. Becca Jablonski, Associate Professor and co-Director of the Food Systems Institute at Colorado State University

Thanks to our funders/partners: