Stockton Food Day ~ The Essential Food Day Toolkit

35 Ways to Change the Food System: The Essential Food Day Toolkit

Food Day champions a number of policies at the local and state level that are designed to improve the food environment and make the healthy choice the easy choice for consumers. If you are interested in advocating for a food or nutrition policy in your community as part of your Food Day activities, the list of policies below are fully supported by Food Day. We have provided links to resources to help you with your advocacy efforts.

Schools Workplace Government/Public Venues Restaurants/Food Service Establishments Food Marketing Land Use and Zoning Sugar Drink Taxes Restaurant Hygiene Hunger and Food Access Pesticide Taxes and Bans Animal Welfare Agriculture and Organic Farming

Schools

Provide food nutrition education and food literacy in schools.
Nutrition standards for school celebrations, rewards and fundraisers.
Nutrition standards for food marketing in schools.
Ensure your school district has a strong nutrition and physical activity wellness policy that is implemented in each school in the district.
Call for a state plan to implement healthy nutrition environments in schools.

Resources:
NANA Model School Wellness Policy

NANA Fact Sheet on Healthy School Fundraisers

CSPI Fact Sheet on Classroom Rewards

CSPI Fact Sheets on Healthy School Celebrations

NANA Fact Sheet on State and Local Policy Options to Support Healthy School Foods

Nourish Life Food Literacy in the Classroom Curriculum

DooF Food Literacy Curriculum

Teaching the Food System – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Let’s Cook Class Curriculum

For more information, visit: http://www.schoolfoods.org/back2school or http://cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/compfoods.html


Workplace

Nutrition standards for workplace vending and food service.
Adopt a healthy meeting policy.
Provide calorie labeling for food service and vending machines.

Resources

NANA Model Food and Beverage Vending Machine Standards

ChangeLab Solutions' Model Vending Agreement

Public Health - Seattle & King County: Healthy Vending Toolkit

For more information visit: http://www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/foodstandards.html


Government/Public Venues

Nutrition standards for all foods and beverages sold and served on government-run property (procurement policy).

Resources

CDC Toolkit: A Guide for Government Procurement

Model Bill: The Healthy Government Properties Act

Model Bill: Healthy Vending on Government Property

ChangeLab Solutions' Model Vending Agreement

For more information visit: http://www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/foodstandards.html


Restaurants/Food Service Establishments

In kids meals make fruit or vegetables the default side dish. Make low-fat milk or water the default beverage.
Nutrition standards for kid’s meals sold with toys.
Menu labeling at non-chain restaurants.
Ban use of artificial trans fat.

Resources

CSPI Study: Nutritional quality of restaurant children’s meals [pdf]

Healthy Children’s Meal Defaults Fact Sheet

FMW Fact sheet: Toy giveaways with restaurant children’s meals

NPLAN Model ordinance for toy giveaways with children’s restaurant meals [pdf]

CDC Artificial Trans Fat Ban Resources

Examples of Menu Labeling Policies in Non-Chain Restaurants


Food Marketing

Adopt nutrition standards for food advertising in government facilities and property.
Nutrition standards for kid’s meals sold with toys.
Nutrition standards for food marketing in schools.

Resources

FMW Fact sheet: Food marketing to children

FMW Factsheet: State and local policy options to reduce junk food marketing to kids

NPLAN Model ordinance for toy giveaways with children’s restaurant meals [pdf]

NANA Model School Wellness Policy

FMW Factsheet on food marketing in schools

For more information visit: http://www.foodmarketing.org/


Land Use and Zoning

Policy that encourages the development of community gardens
Policy that protects farming and keeps development away from farmland.
Policy that requires a minimum distance of 500 feet between fast food restaurants and elementary, junior high, or high schools.
Reduce density of fast food outlets through zoning specifications.
Land use policies that protect and promote Farmers Markets.

Resources

Chula Vista Community Gardens Policy

Public Health Law Center- Community Gardens Model Resolution Language

Land Use Policies to Promote Urban Agriculture

Healthy Zoning Regulations

Land Use Policies that Protect and Promote Farmers Markets

Requires Minimum Distance of 500 Feet Between Fast Food Restaurants and Schools

Policy to Protect Farmland

Sugar Drink Taxes

Penny-per-ounce excise tax on sugary drinks

Resources

ChangeLab Model Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax

Life’s Sweeter with Fewer Sugary Drinks

Restaurant Hygiene

Restaurant Grading

Resources

Hunger and Food Access

Ensure that farmer’s markets accept EBT cards for SNAP and WIC
Incentive Program for SNAP Recipients that increase the value of benefits when purchasing produce at Farmers Markets.
Allow Mobile Food Markets to bring healthy food weekly into communities with poor food access.
Incentivize grocery stores and other purveyors of healthy foods to locate in underserved neighborhoods.

Resources

Incentive Policy to Attract and Maintain Healthy Food Retailers

Grocery and Food Store Code/Policy

Farmers Markets Accept WIC and SNAP EBT Cards

Incentive Program for SNAP Recipients to Purchase Produce at Farmers Markets

Produce Cart Permit Program

Mobile Food Markets

The federal government created the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) to expand access to healthy, fresh food in underserved communities. See here for more information.

Pesticide Taxes and Bans

Assess a tax on pesticides and fertilizers to reduce their use
Ban pesticide use

Resources

California Department of Pesticide Regulation Mill Assessment/Produce Compliance Program

Washington State: Pesticides and the Hazardous Substance Tax

Oregon Temporary Pesticide Ban

Animal Welfare

Ban use of gestation crates for sows
Ban use of crates for calves raised for veal
Ban battery cages for egg-laying hens

Resources

The Florida Constitution. 2002. Limiting cruel and inhumane confinement of pigs during pregnancy. Article X. Section 21.

Maine: An Act To Prohibit Cruel Confinement of Calves Raised for Veal and Sows during Gestation

The HSUS and The UEP agreement on supporting federal legislation to afford certain protections to all U.S. egg laying hens

California AB 1437 – Ban Battery Cages for Egg-Laying Hens
Agriculture and Organic Farming

Incentives for farms to convert from conventional to organic.
Policies that protect farmland from development.
Zoning policies to permit urban agriculture.

Resources

Organics Conversion Policy

Zoning for Urban Agriculture

Protecting Farmland for Local Food Production