Case History: Kent County Food System Plan

by | Mar 20, 2025 | Case History, Food Policy, Food System, Strategic Planning

Throughout 2023 and 2024, the food system planning team at New Venture Advisors had the privilege of collaborating with the Kent County Food Policy Council in a comprehensive planning process to advance the food system in the greater Grand Rapids, Michigan region. This initiative reflects a deep commitment to creating a resilient, accessible, and sustainable food system for the communities of Kent County.

The Opportunity

In 2021, the Kent County Food Policy Council was established with a mission to advocate for and promote a thriving local food system. Recognizing the importance of informed decision-making and inclusive community participation, the Council sought to deepen its understanding of the local food landscape and develop actionable policy recommendations.

With support from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, the Council embarked on a two-year effort to conduct a comprehensive Food System Assessment and develop the Kent County Food System Plan, with expert guidance from New Venture Advisors.

Partnering with New Venture Advisors

Serving and reflecting the needs of the community is central to the Kent County Food System Plan, which emphasized community involvement throughout the entire planning process. Thousands of Kent County residents were engaged at various points to develop a vision for the local food system, share challenges and experiences with accessing healthy local food, and brainstorm potential solutions.

New Venture Advisors supported this multi-year effort through:

  • Conducting the Kent County Food System Assessment to help the Kent County Food Policy Council gain a baseline understanding of current conditions and key food system metrics to track over time. The assessment identified potential challenges and gaps in knowledge to learn from the community and inform their upcoming food system planning effort. 
  • Supporting extensive community engagement through a series of key informant interviews, focus groups, and forums. The Kent County Food Policy Council also collaborated with the Kent County Health Department to include questions about the food system in the Community Health Needs Assessment survey. Nearly 2,900 survey respondents ranked their top food system priorities from a list of twelve potential options. 
  • Conducting a comprehensive scan of existing food system policies and recommendations in the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County, such as the City of Grand Rapids Community Master Plan and the Kent County Strategic Plan. This ensured the Food System Plan would align with other community planning efforts and would not conflict with existing policy recommendations.
  • Developing a robust, 10-year plan that outlines 5 core goals with 75 accompanying action steps to help achieve the community’s vision. The Kent County Food System Plan describes the strategies local governments and partners can implement to improve healthy food access, catalyze economic development, reduce food waste, increase sustainability, advance food system coordination, and more.
Moving Forward

The Kent County Food Policy Council is now actively collaborating with local governments, institutions, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and residents to implement the Food System Plan. Their ongoing commitment to coordination, community engagement, and progress tracking serves as a model for other communities striving to transform their food systems.

At New Venture Advisors, we thrive on working alongside communities to craft food system plans that go beyond words—plans filled with actionable policies, infrastructure strategies, funding pathways, and programmatic recommendations that lead to real impact. But what excites us even more is supporting our clients in building new relationships and skillsets that help those plans come to life.

Photo courtesy of the Kent County Food Policy Council

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 Whatcom County Food System Plan

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