Objective PR.6 Promote affordable and high-quality food access and sustainable agriculture

Policies/Design Strategies

  • Encourage restaurants and commercial refuse customers to take advantage of The Uniform Commercial Rate Structure program through Golden Gate Disposal to increase their diversion rate of compostables.1,2
  • Provide funding for equipment purchase that would allow the use of electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card at all farmers' markets.3
  • Include a sunny space for a community garden in new developments.4
  • Provide an easily accessible area serving the entire building that is dedicated to the collection and storage of non-hazardous materials for recycling and composting.5
  • Require clearly marked recycling bins next to each of the trash bins throughout new projects and in public spaces.6
  • Utilize the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines to measure and improve citywide recycling rates.7
  • Identify and utilize publicly-owned vacant land suitable for community gardening.8

  • Ensure that farmers' markets are sufficiently served by public transportation.9

  • Provide an expedited permit review process for all retail businesses providing a minimum of 10% shelf space for fresh produce.10,11
  • Identify a multi-use flexible space in office and residential buildings to store CSA boxes during delivery day.12

  • Create programs and policies to help restaurants promote healthier foods and beverages and reasonably-sized portions.13

  • State and local government leaders pass a resolution for a food policy council or task force that advances healthy food options and includes supermarkets.13

  • Offer incentives such as grants or technical assistance, to encourage healthy food retail to entrepreneurs to increase their chances of success. Incentives could include grants, tax breaks, and the guarantee or facilitation of market-based or interest-free loans.14
  • Require food vendors to accept food stamps/ Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) and WIC vouchers (Women, Infants, and Children).15

  • Develop mixed-use retail "clusters" in which small food stores can flourish.16

  • Include food access needs in planning, zoning, and development processes.17
  • Streamline any applicable license and permit processes for full-service grocery stores.18
  • Acquire and/or convert underutilized or vacant land for food market development.19
  • Connect neighborhoods that lack healthy food outlets to areas with such stores via improvements to public transit routes, bike routes, and pedestrian amenities.20
  • Include small food markets and sidewalk produce carts as a vital component of neighborhood revitalization projects.21,22
  • Provide technical assistance to entrepreneurs and storeowners who are interested in improving their communities' access to nutritious food.23,24
  • Encourage new and existing food retailers to carry culturally-appropriate food for the neighborhood population.25
1. SF Recycling: Commercial Collection Overview http://www.goldengatedisposal.com/commercial/index.php?t=b
2. San Franisco Department of the Environment, Compost and Green Waste Program http://www.sfrecycling.com/residential/composting.php?t=r
3. Ecology Center: EBT Farmers' Market Nutrition Project http://www.ecologycenter.org/ebt/
4. Troy Gardens, Madison, WI http://www.troygardens.org/
5. US Green Building Council: LEED for Retail - Commercial Interiors. http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3307
6. City of Santa Barbara, CA. Recycling and Trash Information. http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/recycling-trash/aroundtown_parks.htm
7. US EPA. Measuring Recycling: A Guide for State and Local Governments. http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/recycle/recmeas/download.htm
8. Trust for Public Land. New York City Community Gardens. http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cdl.cfm?content_item_id=18995&folder_id=2928
9. An Assessment of San Francisco's Farmers' Markets. http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/sffood/policy_reports/2007%20SF%20Farmers%20Market%20Assessment.pdf
10. Food and Society Update. San Francisco Good Neighbor Project. http://ola.wkkf.org/fasupdate/2006/february/feature.html
11. Healthy Corner Stores Network http://www.healthycornerstores.org/index.php
12. US Department of Agriculture: Community Supported Agriculture http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml
13. Leadership for Healthy Communities Advancing Policies to Support Healthy Eating and Active Living. Action Strategies Toolkit: A Guide for Local and State Leaders Working to Create Healthy Communities and Prevent Childhood Obesity. May 2008. http://www.leadershipforhealthycommunities.org/images/stories/toolkit/lhc_action_strategies_toolkit_0900504final.pdf
14. Public Health Law and Policy. "Funding Sources for Healthy Food Retail" http://www.healthyplanning.org/foodretailfunding.html#
15. California Guide to the Food Stamp Program http://www.foodstampguide.org/?page_id=118#protections
16. California Food Policy Advocates. "Neighborhood Groceries: New Access to Healthy Food in Low-Income Communities" http://www.cfpa.net/Grocery.PDF
17. Public Health Law and Policy. "Economic Development and Redevelopment: A Toolkit on Land Use and Health" http://www.healthyplanning.org/toolkit_edrd.html
18. California Food Policy Advocates. "Neighborhood Groceries: New Access to Healthy Food in Low-Income Communities" http://www.cfpa.net/Grocery.PDF
19. New York Times. "New Stores Raise Northern Boulevard's Profile" http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E3DF1E38F930A15750C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
20. Transportation and Food: The Importance of Access. A Policy Brief of the Center for Food and Justice, Urban and Environmental Policy Institute http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cfj/publications/transportation_and_food.pdf
21. Healthy Corner Stores Network http://www.healthycornerstores.org/index.php
22. New York City Green Carts Law (Produce Carts in Low-Income Neighborhoods) http://home2.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/cdp/cdp_pan_green_carts.shtml
23. California Food Policy Advocates. "Neighborhood Groceries: New Access to Healthy Food in Low-Income Communities" http://www.cfpa.net/Grocery.PDF
24. San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development http://sfgov.org/site/frame.asp?u=http://www.oewd.org
25. The Food Trust's Supermarket Campaign http://www.thefoodtrust.org/php/programs/super.market.campaign.php http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/06/27/wanted-inner-city-supermarkets/