How does and can planning and design enhance the freedom and wellbeing of marginalized actors in the food system – low-income residents, people of colour, small-holder farmers, and refugees – the very people the alternative food movements purport to serve? That is the question of concern in this special issue in which authors from across the Global North and South explore the role of planning and design in communities’ food systems, while explicitly considering the imbalances in equity, justice, and power.

On May 3 & 4, 2017, nearly 150 stakeholders gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Sixth Annual National Convening on Healthy Food Access to discuss the progress, impact, and future of the federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI). This handout includes summaries of the plenary and panel sesssions.

Read more about the convening in this section, 2017 HFFI Convening Reflections.

On May 3 & 4, 2017, nearly 150 stakeholders gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Sixth Annual National Convening on Healthy Food Access to discuss the progress, impact, and future of the federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI). This handout includes core messages designed to assit you when speaking about the federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) to partners, the media, or congressional staffers.

Read more about the convening in this section, 2017 HFFI Convening Reflections.

On May 3 & 4, 2017, nearly 150 stakeholders gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Sixth Annual National Convening on Healthy Food Access to discuss the progress, impact, and future of the federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI). 

On day two, grantees of the federal HFFI program and other stakeholders travelled to Capitol Hill to share stories about healthy food access projects and efforts with Congressional Members and staff. This handout includes key tips and strategies utilized by attendees to help their elected officials learn about the critical program and its impact in their respective states and districts.

Read more about the convening in this section, 2017 HFFI Convening Reflections.

The Global Database for City and Regional Food Policies is a resource for local governments to learn about food system policies from around the globe. The database provides copies of legislations, plans, funding allocations, or other public actions authorized or implemented by cities, municipalities, regions and sub-national governments.

FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs committed to making the possibility of good food in Detroit a sustainable reality by designing, building, and maintaintaining systems to grow a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

In partnership with the Work Department, a women-led social innovation design firm, the FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council members participated in a series of three interactive working sessions over the course of six weeks to define the core principles that enable the creation of Good Food and Good Jobs. This photo essay documents this engaging process.

View other photo essays in this series:

• Redefining Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #2
• Building a Model for Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #3
• Food as a Catalyst for Community Change: FoodLab Detroit's Annual Network Gathering

FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs committed to making the possibility of good food in Detroit a sustainable reality by designing, building, and maintaintaining systems to grow a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

Throughout the second of three co-labs, the FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council members worked to further refine what it means to be a provider of good food and good jobs. This photo essay captures this process, where members worked to edit those definitions to ensure that those definitions articulated the core values of FoodLab Detroit, and painted a clear picture of the vibrant, local food economy that we envision.

View other photo essays in this series:

• Establishing Principles for Good Food, Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #1
• Building a Model for Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #3
• Food as a Catalyst for Community Change: FoodLab Detroit's Annual Network Gathering

FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs committed to making the possibility of good food in Detroit a sustainable reality by designing, building, and maintaintaining systems to grow a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

Throughout the first two collaborative work sessions, FoodLab Detroit's community of good food entrepreneurs, with the help of The Work Department, was able to develop a set of guiding principles and expectations for food businesses who wish to contribute to the creation of good food and good jobs. This photo essay captures this process, including the final co-lab whereby members reviewed these principles and ensured that this tool truly reflected their community's values prior to publication.

View other photo essays in this series:

• Establishing Principles for Good Food, Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #1
• Redefining Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #2
• Food as a Catalyst for Community Change: FoodLab Detroit's Annual Network Gathering

Developed by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, this guide offers an overview of federal programs and policies most important to sustainable agriculture and how they can be used by farmers, ranchers, and grassroots organizations nationwide.The guide also contains dozens of competitive grant programs intended to help grassroots organizations better serve communities and farmers.

The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future is now offering an updated, on-demand version of our free, online Coursera course. In this short course, we provide a brief introduction to the U.S. food system and how food production practices and what we eat impacts the world in which we live. We discuss some key historical and political factors that have helped shape the current food system and consider alternative approaches from farm to fork.