Obesity and Type II diabetes have repeatedly been linked to poor food access and the situation demands that we look at food through a better lens. Public interest in healthful urban food environments is rising fast and scholars across many disciplines are increasingly looking at the relationships between health, food security and sustainability. Community food systems are neither the domain of urban planners, nor community developers and organizers. Nor can they be left to the designs of food purveyors and food service professionals. They belong to “every profession which has a food-related interest, as well as NGO’s that focus on social justice, public health, food security and ecological causes” (Morgan, 2009, p. 342). In short, they belong to the community itself. Over the past decade more than 100 cities across N. America have developed or are developing strategic plans towards more equitable and sustainable food systems under the banner-goal of community food security. The community food assessment (CFA) is community-based participatory research (CBPR) at its best. The process brings together stakeholders from all parts of the urban food spectrum in research, debate and planning exercises that identify and fill gaps in the flow of good-quality food. CFA’s are stimulating the creation of food policy councils, community gardens, community-supported agriculture (CSA), farmers markets, nutrition-education initiatives as well as NGO outreach programs in support of government food assistance standards such as SNAP, WIC and school-based food programs. The moderator of this roundtable will initiate a discussion on urban food systems by introducing findings from his ongoing review of community food assessments (CFA’s). Participants will be encouraged to share what is happening with food in their own communities in order to generate a lively exchange of ideas.
