Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Scholars in planning and public health have increasingly called attention to inequities in the food system. To evaluate and address these challenges, local and regional governments have developed and implemented a variety of plans over the last 2 decades. The role of regional food planning, however, remains understudied. Most assessments of plans, vis-à-vis food systems, fall short in gauging how plans address structural problems that lead to poor access to food. We used 130 indicators to conduct a comparative plan evaluation of adopted regional plans (n = 47) that address key dimensions of food equity in the United States from 2008 to 2018. Specifically, we quantitatively and qualitatively investigate how these plans address the nutritional adequacy of food; affordability and cultural preferences of food for all people; and social equity, spatial equity, and people’s agency in the food system. Findings show regional plans have a relative lack of attention to the affordability of food and social equity in the food system. Across different types of plans, sustainability plans focused on food equity to the greatest extent. Within plans, language about food equity was lacking in particular sections, namely in the vision, goals, and objectives; in the factual basis of plans; and in sections pertaining to monitoring progress toward food equity.

Takeaway for practice: We uncover opportunities for planners to promote food equity through strategies such as improving affordability of healthy food; supporting social equity and people’s agency in the food system through improved governance; incorporating food equity into the vision, goals, and objectives of regional plans; leveraging different types of plans to advance food equity; strengthening empirical evidence on varied dimensions of food equity; and improving the monitoring of proposed actions and outcomes.

摘要

问题，研究策略和发现：规划和公共卫生领域的学者越来越多地关注食物系统中的不平等现象。为了评估和应对这些挑战，地方和地区政府在过去的20年中制定并实施了各种计划。但是，仍然没有充分研究区域粮食计划的作用。相对于粮食系统，大多数计划评估都无法衡量计划如何解决导致粮食获取困难的结构性问题。我们使用130个指标对通过的区域计划进行了比较计划评估（n = 47），涵盖了2008年至2018年美国食品公平的关键方面。具体而言，我们从数量和质量上研究了这些计划如何解决食品的营养充足问题；食物对所有人的负担能力和文化偏爱；以及食品系统中的社会平等，空间平等和人民代理。调查结果表明，区域计划对粮食的可负担性和粮食系统中的社会公平相对缺乏关注。在不同类型的计划中，可持续发展计划最大程度地关注食品公平。在计划内，在某些部分，即在远景，目标和目的中，缺乏有关粮食公平的语言；在计划的事实基础上；以及与监测实现食物公平进展有关的部分。

实践的要点：我们发现计划者通过提高健康食品的承受能力等策略促进食品公平的机会；通过改善治理，在粮食系统中支持社会平等和人民机构；将粮食公平纳入区域计划的愿景，目标和宗旨；利用不同类型的计划来促进食品公平；加强关于粮食平等各个方面的经验证据；并改善对拟议行动和成果的监测。