Dr. Becca Jablonksi, associate professor and co-director of CSU’s food system institute, previously received a FFAR Tipping Points grant. Jablonski and her team evaluated the potential for Denver-based food policies to support food system efforts statewide, with a specific focus on bringing regional stakeholders into the discussion with urban decision-makers. The team studied potential economic, environmental, social and health impacts resulting from implementing the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP), an initiative designed to promote healthier, more sustainable food procurement practices. The GFPP aims to transform how institutions purchase food, creating a more equitable and transparent food system, by providing a metric based, flexible framework that helps institutions meet their goals. However, further modeling is needed to simulate the complex nature of food systems and how stakeholders interact and affect the food policy environment.
Building upon the Tipping Points research, Jablonski and her team aim to co-create a replicable and adaptable model that municipalities can use to guide food procurement decisions. This research extends previous modeling and focuses on New York City, one of the largest purchasers of food in the United States, spending more than $300 million annually. New York City’s intricate and complex food system provides opportunity for model development on a large scale and that includes numerous stakeholders to support food purchasing decision making.