New England Food Vision: Healthy Food for All, Sustainable Farming and Fishing, Thriving Communities

A New England Food Vision proposes changes in food production, distribution, and consumption reaching from the most rural areas to the densest cities—across the entire food system. The New England Food Vision Writing Team has been working since 2011 to produce a bold vision that calls for our region to build the capacity to produce at least 50% of clean, fair, accessible and just food for New Englanders by 2060. The Vision includes a set of guiding assumptions and calculations that sketch a future in which diverse local and state food systems are supported by and in turn support a regional sustainable food system. The roles of the writing team include production of a New England Food Vision document, including input from regional stakeholders at the annual New England Food Summits, discussions at various meetings, presentations, and via an online survey

Digging in: Toward a more just urban garden land policy

Surging interest in urban agriculture has prompted cities across North America to adopt policies that give gardeners access to publicly owned land. However, if not carefully designed, these policies can exacerbate existing racial inequities. Drawing on theories of urban and environmental justice, we use a contextualized case comparison to explore the radical potential and practical constraints of garden land policies at two distinct institutions: the City of Minneapolis and the independently elected Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Based on participant observation, document review, and interviews with a range of policy actors, we argue that what appear to be minor, common-sense policy details systematically shape who benefits from the garden land policies, sometimes in surprising ways. Compared to the City, the Park Board goes substantially further in addressing racial equity. Furthermore, though both cases included public participation, we argue that the more inten­sive participation during the Park Board policy development process—particularly in determining the details—was pivotal in crafting a policy that reduced barriers to racial equity. The present study contributes to the growing scholarship on urban agriculture and environmental governance and offers concrete insights for actors working toward more just policies