Download a PDF version of the toolkit for policy makers here.
Create Economic Opportunities
- Conduct a Community Food Assessment.
- Work with retailers and farmers’ markets to increase access to local foods.
- Consult the agricultural community in planning processes.
- Re-examine bylaws that prohibit farmers and growers from selling local food.
- Advocate for policies that support on-farm processing.
- Develop and support local food procurement policies.
Promote Education and Skill-Building
- Include food systems education in school curricula.
- Engage and empower students to improve the food culture of schools.
- Facilitate learning opportunities for chefs and food service providers in the public sector on procurement practices that benefit the economic, environmental and social good.
- Implement initiatives that provide training for rural grocers and restaurants to help them expand healthy options and minimize unhealthy choices.
Maintain a Healthy Ecosystem
- Support the preservation of local farmland.
- Promote and support community garden projects and local neighbourhood markets.
- Facilitate the diversion of food waste from the municipal garbage stream (e.g. promote home and business composting or the implementation of a municipal organic waste program).
Foster Residents’ Health and Well-Being
- Encourage healthy food options in schools, hospitals, child care and recreation centres etc.
- Restrict the availability and advertising of unhealthy food and beverages in public places.
- Establish guidelines for high quality, healthy food donations at food banks.
- Create a supportive environment for breastfeeding mothers.
Support Equal Access Opportunities
- Recognize food as a basic human right.
- Support fair wages for farmers.
- Support government procurement of fair trade products where possible.
- Support and participate in collaborations working to create sustainable food systems.
- Coordinate existing emergency food programs to increase access to healthy food.
- Develop partnerships with not-for-profits, hunger relief organizations and retail food vendors to increase the number and quality of healthy options in emergency food settings.
- Support measures that facilitate active transportation (eg. bike lanes, trails, bike racks) as a means of accessing healthy food.
Celebrate Culture and Collaboration
- Promote regional foods, farmers, and local businesses.
- Create policies and incentives that support and promote agri-tourism (Agri-tourism involves any agriculturally based activity that brings visitors to a farm).