Food Policies Can Support Both Urban & Rural Communities
Cities across the U.S. implement food policies to support their sustainable development goals. However, these policies are generally created by urban habitants without including the regional stakeholders who are impacted by these decisions. Thus, food policies may not reach their full potential as they do not offer incentives to support producer transitions to more ecologically friendly production methods or support the next generation of farmers or ranchers. FFAR awarded a Tipping Points program grant to Colorado State University researchers to better understand how food policies can deliver solutions that support entire regions and help decision-makers understand tradeoffs associated with their decisions.
A visual representation of the regional Colorado food system’s needs and opportunities displayed at the 2023 Colorado Food Summit. Photo courtesy of Jimena Peck.
Research Led to Increased Understanding of Food Policy Tradeoffs
Led by Dr. Becca Jablonski, Colorado State University researchers explored how Denver’s public food procurement policies, a part of the Denver Food Vision, could improve food security and health within the city, as well as environmental, economic and farm viability outcomes within the entire region. Jablonski and her team developed an agent-based model that incorporated ecological, dietary quality, economic, biophysical and other data and models to understand the tradeoffs that policymakers need to make and how they can impact the entire region.