Access to Healthy Food
Publications, Presentations and Legislation
Updated April 2008
The materials listed on this web page provide NCSL resources on access to healthy food, including magazine articles and other written reports, conference sessions, and policy databases that cover the wide range of policies that can increase access to healthy food.
Publications
"The Legislative Role In Healthy Community Design"
Published 2006
This 16 page document explores state legislative activity from 2004 to 2006 with regards to healthy community design and access to healthy foods. Included in the piece is trend-tracking from all state legislatures, as well as a more in-depth examination of legislative activity on issues such as safe routes to school, brownfields cleanup and redevelopment, healthy food procurement, food policy councils, and many other issue areas.
Please click here to purchase or access the document.
"State Policies for Increasing Access to Healthy Foods"
Published 2005
You will learn about the benefits of consuming healthy foods, how healthy community design affects access to healthy food and what you, as a policymaker, can do to increase access in your state.
"Evolution of Increased Access to Local, Fresh Produce in New Mexico"
Published 2005
Is a case study about the legislative devices used to help children eat healthier. Agriculture and nutrition advocates worked together through the Cooking with Kids program, the U.S. Department of Defense's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program and the Local Harvest Program to increase access and consumption of fresh, local produce in New Mexico schools.
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Pass the Peas Please (May 2005)
This article from the May issue of State Legislatures Magazine describes a component of the Kentucky Proud program that links state park restaurant chefs with local farmers to buy produce for their restaurants. Because fresh produce are not included in the state's procurement law, chefs are able to pay local farmers wholesale prices that are consistent with those that large wholesalers would receive.
Meetings/Site Visits
NCSL staff periodically arranges site visits and meetings that strive to educate legislators about food access issues. In 2006, we organized visits on Food Policy Councils, Farm-to-School Programs, and Grocery Retail Development.
Farm-to-School Site Visit
On May 17th and 18th, 2006, NCSL staff and legislators visited the Seattle area to learn more about all aspects of farm-to-school programs, such as procurement of local goods, production of local produce for school meals, and nutrition education.
Food Policy Council Site Visit
On June 15th and 16th, 2006, NCSL staff and legislators visited Hartford to learn more about food policy councils and their work on food system issues. Connecticut created a state-wide council by statute and has done extensive work on hunger and farmland preservation issues.
Grocery Retail Site Visit
In September of 2006, Legislators and NCSL staff visited Philadelphia to learn about Pennsylvania's efforts to bring supermarkets and healthy food to underserved areas.
Gila Crossing Community School Garden Program (February 2006)
NCSL staff and legislators visited a school on the Gila River Indian Reservation to learn about their school garden program and how it is used to bolster their curriculum and teach the children about their culture and food choices. This power-point presentation gives an overview of the many benefits of this program.
State Legislative Action on Active Living and Access to Healthy Food (August 2005)
Tennessee Select Committee on Children and Youth
This presentation describes policy options for changing the physical environment to create one that is more conducive to physical activity and accessing healthy, affordable food.
Speaker: Leslie Robbins, National Conference of State Legislatures
Farm to School Testimony from Oklahoma
This page contains testimony and information from an Oklahoma Senate interim study committee.
Farm to School (December 2004)
NCSL 2004 Fall Forum, Agriculture and Rural Development Committee
Schools, agriculture and welfare agencies are beginning to explore using local producers to provide fresh fruits, vegetables and products for their food programs. This session presented the varying benefits and challenges to using locally grown products in these programs and how legislatures can facilitate such programs.
Moderator: Jim Fry, Legislative Research Council, South Dakota
Staff Vice Chair, Agriculture and Rural Development Committee
Speakers: Michael Hamm, Michigan State University
Gary Gay, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services,
North Carolina
NCSL Legislative Databases
A number of NCSL resources exist to enable you to research bills and laws that contribute to access to healthy food. There are four databases on the NCSL web site. Bills can be downloaded from NCSL’s State Legislatures Internet Links at http://www.ncsl.org/public/leglinks.cfm.
The Healthy Community Design Legislation Database contains summaries of bills from the current legislative session as well as those from the 2003-2004 legislative sessions. The bills are focused on strategies that increase access to healthy food and opportunities for including physical activity into one's daily routine. Specifically, bills can be searched by the following topics: agriculture, bike/pedestrian, coalition/council, direct marketing, farm-to-school, farmers' market, land use/smart growth, nutrition, obesity, obesity-childhood, physical activity, supermarket and transportation. The database can be searched by state and topic. In addition to the bill number and summary, each entry includes dates of introduction and last action, sponsor and bill status.
Growth Management Legislation database contains summaries of bills being considered during the current session that focus on providing incentives for, or removing obstacles to more effective growth management. The emphasis is on strategies that attempt to balance economic development with protection of natural resources, the environment and public health. Topics include brownfields redevelopment, conservation easements, mixed use development, smart growth and tax credits, among others. The database can be searched by state and topic. In addition to the bill number and summary, each entry includes dates of introduction and last action, sponsor and bill status.
The database on rural legislation includes legislation on rural economic development, education, health, infrastructure, fiscal issues, land use, housing, safety and criminal justice, and agriculture as it relates to rural development. It also includes legislation related to state rural agencies and institutions. The database may be searched based on bill number, status, or sponsor; as well as keyword, state or topic. The database is updated quarterly; it began in February 2003. The entries in the database are compiled from the results of a search for bills that include the term "rural;" it may not include every bill with particular effects on rural areas. NCSL also has legislation and statute databases on agricultural issues (including biotechnology, agricultural terrorism, farmland protection and organic food).
The Environmental Health Legislation database includes state legislation on topics such as mercury, lead poisoning, pesticides and indoor air quality. The database is updated monthly and all entries include brief summaries of current legislation as well as status and bill number.
Non-NCSL Legislative Databases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity recently posted a state legislative information database. This database can be searched by topic or subtopic. Some examples of topics include food and beverages, schools, transportation and worksites, and some examples of subtopics include bicycles, seniors, health insurance and parks. The database contains information from 2001 and is updated quarterly. By mid-year 2004, the physical activity arm of this database will include bills on transportation, smart growth, education and environmental health as they pertain to active living. |
