May 12, 2018
VLS’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) is part of a collaborative group that launched a national Healthy Food Policy Project (HFPP) in the fall of 2017. The project identi es and elevates local laws and policies that promote access to healthy food and contribute to strong local economies, improved environmental quality, and health equity. The project, which focuses on socially disadvantaged and marginalized groups, is available at www.healthyfoodpolicyproject.org.
The Healthy Food Policy Project is funded by the National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and represents a four-year collaboration of CAFS, the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut. “We are thankful to the USDA National Agricultural Library for supporting the Healthy Food Policy Project, enabling us to shine a light on laws and policies that support access to healthy food in communities across the United States,” said Professor Laurie Ristino, CAFS director. “This project also highlights the bene ts of working nationally with a transdisciplinary team of topnotch collaborators.”
The Healthy Food Policy Project website provides resources for advocates, local policymakers, and local public health agencies in their quest to champion healthy food access in their communities. The site contains a curated, searchable database of local healthy food policies that have been analyzed by HFPP partners, a crosswalk of local laws and policies organized by food system category and type of law, and case studies that showcase healthy food policy initiatives around the country.