Participatory State and Regional Food System Plans and Charters in the U.S.: A Summary of Trends and National Directory

New resource – cross-posted from our friends at MSU Center for Regional Food Systems.

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. It is intended to serve as a resource to facilitate network building and co-learningamong 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 information relevant to their state. We looked for plans and charters that:

  1. are systems-based and cross-sector (covering the entire food system),
  2. propose visions beyond 2021 or that are currently being updated (e.g., the 2005 California plan proposed a vision of the food system into 2030), and
  3. were participatory and collaboratively developed (those that crowdsourced ideas and attempted to mobilize stakeholders throughout the state using numerous strategies such as summits, working groups, etc.).

Download the report to explore trends and a directory of state and regional food systems plans and charters!


This directory was developed by University of Michigan Sustainable Food Systems Initiative affiliates in collaboration with the MSU Center for Regional Food Systems. Funding for this work comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.