Participatory State and Regional Food System Plans and Charters in the U.S.: A summary of trends and national directory

Completed in August of 2021, this report offers a snapshot of national trends, and a directory of food systems plans and charters that exist at state and regional levels across the United States (see the directory at the end of this document). It is intended to serve as a resource to facilitate network building and co-learning among practitioners leading these efforts and groups interested in launching their own plans and charters. We collected information from plans and charters that are publicly available on websites, and — to the extent possible — followed up with lead organizations or individuals to review information1 relevant to their state. We looked for plans and charters that: a)are systems-based and cross-sector (covering the entire food system), b)propose visions beyond 2021 or that are currently being updated (e.g., the 2005 California plan proposed avision of the food system into 2030), and c)were participatory and collaboratively developed (those that crowdsourced ideas and attempted to mobilizestakeholders throughout the state using numerous strategies such as summits, working groups, etc.)