Food System Plan
A Food System Plan, as defined by the American Planning Association, is “a set of interconnected, forward-thinking activities that strengthen a community and regional food system through the creation and implementation of plans and policies.” The overall goal is to improve the well-being of people and their communities by building more sustainable, just, equitable, self-reliant, and resilient food systems.
Many of our clients undertake a Food System Planning process after they’ve completed a Food System Assessment. While the assessment process helps a community understand their local food system landscape, the planning process provides the policy strategies to address the gaps and challenges identified in the assessment phase. The assessment is the diagnosis, the plan is the prescription.
NVA provides strategic direction and technical assistance to the local governments, food policy councils, and community coalitions developing their Food System Plans.
We work with communities to:
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Create a shared vision for the Food System Plan process. We work with clients to identify the values and goals driving their work.
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Plan a robust and inclusive community engagement process. We work with clients to design surveys, plan community meetings, facilitate social media engagement, and deploy a variety of tools to be sure that all community voices are heard.
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Analyze and synthesize key findings. We help clients interpret the findings from the community engagement process, and turn those into actionable recommendations.
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Support formal adoption of the Food System Plan by local elected officials. We assist clients in navigating the formal public process of Food System Plan adoption by their local or state elected bodies.
About Us
New Venture Advisors is a team of business consultants specializing in local food system planning and new enterprise development.
Food System Plan Projects
Learn how we have helped our clients with Food System Plans below.
Maui County Food and Nutrition Security Plan
Maui, HI
Hawai’i Public Health Institute and the Maui Nui Food Alliance are supporting the Maui County Department of Agriculture to create a Maui County Food and Nutrition Security Plan. This Plan will guide Maui County’s efforts to improve nutrition security, climate resilience, disaster preparedness, and opportunities for local food producers, with targets identified over the next 5, 10, and 20 years. New Venture Advisors assisted in completing the Plan by analyzing challenges and opportunities identified in the recently completed food system needs assessment and community talk story sessions, and translating community priorities into actionable policy recommendations. These recommendations were workshopped with local communities and policymakers to ensure the final Food and Nutrition Security Plan reflects Maui County’s needs. (2025)
King County Local Food Initiative
Renton, WA
King Conservation District (KCD) and King County are embarking on a refresh of the Local Food Initiative, a regional strategy to grow the local food economy and increase access to healthy foods in low-income communities. Published in 2015, the Local Food Initiative has served as a roadmap for food policy and action for stakeholders across the region and has led to over $7 million of KCD rates and charges collections invested in local food systems in the past decade. The refresh presents an opportunity to build off past success, learn from gaps and challenges, incorporate new policy and research, emphasize equity and climate change, and integrate new voices and communities into the conversation. New Venture Advisors will write the plan and lead the project with local partners involving the diverse communities of King County throughout the planning process. (2025)
Johnson County Farmers Market Action Plan
Olathe, KS
Johnson County is home to nine farmers markets serving more than 100 farmer-vendors and thousands of customers. To support local farmers and community members, especially younger farmers and residents experiencing food insecurity, the county’s Department of Health and Environment and Food Policy Council are teaming with other partners to create an Action Plan that will build resiliency, capacity, and accelerate growth across the county’s network of farmers markets. New Venture Advisors is assisting in developing this plan that will provide actionable data, capacity building support to individual markets, and municipal-level policies that will advance local agriculture and expand direct-to-consumer sales of fresh, healthy, and local food. (2025)
Rogue Valley Community Food Assessment & Action Plan
Medford, OR
The Rogue Valley Food System Network and its partners have been working for several years to identify current assets and gaps in the food system. They aim to address several areas of opportunity: 1) to increase food security and access in limited resource communities, 2) to stabilize production growth by identifying land and infrastructure access and marketing gaps, and 3) to support community outreach and education about food systems impacts. The result will be a Community Food Assessment and Food Action Plan containing the network’s strategic directions for the next decade. New Venture Advisors is assisting the network in completing the assessment and plan. (2025)
Indiana Food Vision
Indianapolis, IN
The Indiana Department of Health and Indiana University have been collaborating for several years to develop the Indiana Food Vision. This Vision will serve as a roadmap, highlighting key areas where policy, programs, and funding can support a thriving food system. It encourages municipalities, nonprofits, and corporations to become champions, advancing food system development through their local initiatives. New Venture Advisors is assisting with finalizing the Vision and leading the rollout campaign in 2025. (2025)
San Luis Valley Community Food and Agriculture Action Plan
Alamosa, CO
The San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition (SLVLFC) is a nonprofit organization serving the 6-county region of the San Luis Valley of Colorado. They are working to foster an equitable local food system that restores the health of the people, community, economy, and ecosystem. In 2022, New Venture Advisors assisted the SLVLFC with a Community Food and Agriculture Assessment to learn the impact the food system has on residents’ health, economic opportunity, and quality of life while looking through the lens of equity and climate health, and to discover potential projects and priorities to inform future work. Next, the SLVLFC wants to take the data from the assessment to inform an action planning process for the valley’s food system. They are interested in identifying recommendations for state- and county-level policy solutions, regional initiatives, and programmatic opportunities for SLVLFC and its partners. New Venture Advisors will provide strategic direction and technical assistance and write the Action Plan. (2025)
Kent County Food System Planning
Grand Rapids, MI
The Kent County Food Policy Council based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, embarked on a food planning process to identify the key areas in which policy activity could advance a thriving good food system in Kent County. The planning process included a regional Food System Assessment, a Food Policy Assessment for Kent County and the City of Grand Rapids, and a Food System Plan. The Plan was based on input from residents in areas such as food recovery, food access, local agriculture, school food and nutrition education in schools, farm worker and migrant labor priorities, processing and distributing needs of Kent County, farmland preservation, and living wage strategy. New Venture Advisors assisted the Council in leading this comprehensive food planning process. (2025) Download the plan.
City of Wichita Food and Farm Council Launch
Wichita, KS
The Food and Farm Council (FFC) was a top recommendation of the recently adopted City of Wichita/Sedgwick County Food System Master Plan. The purpose of the FFC is to support coordination among food system stakeholders to ensure that limited resources are used efficiently, and that partnerships can be established to better serve the community. The FFC will serve as an advisory body to the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County and in its initial sessions will be utilized to provide a forum for food system collaboration, compile feedback from these food system stakeholders and offer policy solutions and recommendations to the governing bodies to support awareness of funding opportunities amongst food system partners. The City engaged New Venture Advisors to assist with successfully launching the Food and Farm Council and preparing City staff to lead board development and sustainability over the long term. (2024)
Northwest Indiana Community Food Access Plan
Crown Point, IN
The NWI Food Council is undertaking a community-driven food planning process across a 7-county region that aims to support farmers’ livelihoods, increase residents’ access to healthy food, and build a more resilient local food system in northwest Indiana. New Venture Advisors is completing the assessment and will use the findings to inform a Community Food Access Plan with specific policy and program recommendations. This is being done in sync with the statewide Indiana Food Charter also being finalized by New Venture Advisors. (2025)
Philabundance Community Food Strategies for Hartranft and PCK Entrepreneurial Program
Philadelphia, PA
In addition to providing food distribution, Philabundance’s mission is to drive hunger from Philadelphia communities by addressing the root causes of hunger through integrated service and place-based program models. These interventions, known as Neighborhood Thrive Initiatives, are designed based on feedback from residents. New Venture Advisors worked with Philabundance to engage directly with residents in the North Philadelphia community of Hartranft to identify strategies to increase food access locally and build a more equitable food system. Feedback from residents also informed the development of an entrepreneurial curriculum for the Philabundance Community Kitchen, located in the Hartranft neighborhood. The entrepreneurial program aims to support the development of the types of food businesses that are most desired by community members. (2024)
Whatcom County Food System Plan
Bellingham, WA
In 2021, the Whatcom County Food System Committee conducted a community food assessment that pointed to key opportunities to build a more robust and resilient regional food system. New Venture Advisors partnered with Whatcom County staff and the Food System Committee to draft a Whatcom County Food System Plan that builds upon these findings. This Plan focuses on five key goals for building a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient food system, and was informed by an inclusive community engagement process. The Food System Plan will provide the county with a policy roadmap that will strengthen the local food system for years to come. (2023)
SENDD Regional Economic Development Program
Lincoln, NE
Southeast Nebraska Development District (SENDD) intends to improve regional food security through economic development strategies that contribute to the high quality of life enjoyed across the region and addresses concerns of food access, affordability, public safety, and sustainability exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. New Venture Advisors assisted in the development of an economic development toolkit that provides community leaders with resources to address issues of equity, resiliency and sustainability within regional food and agriculture. The toolkit includes case studies, education materials, and funding sources to help municipalities identify food access concerns and prepare action plans to address them. (2023)
Community Gardens in City Parks Plan
Cedar Rapids, IA
The City of Cedar Rapids undertook an exciting community-driven planning process to establish a Community Gardens in City Parks Plan. The plan outlines a pathway to creating a vibrant network of community gardens across the city, significantly increasing access to garden plots for residents. This effort came in response to interest voiced by the community in expanding healthy food access efforts as the #1 community priority to support climate action locally. The City is committed to expanding community gardens to more city-owned parks with a focus on access for residents who are under-resourced and under-represented. New Venture Advisors, in partnership with Wheat Design Group, developed a garden amenities toolkit, concept plans for eight parks, and a management plan for the City to oversee the community gardens. (2023)
City of Manchester Healthy Food Access Plan
Manchester, NH
The Manchester Health Department and the Manchester Food Collaborative embarked on a community-driven planning process to develop a Healthy Food Access Plan for Manchester. The Plan identified programs and policies to address food insecurity and increase access to healthy food across the city. New Venture Advisors assisted the project partners in creating an inclusive process for community engagement, prioritizing objectives and strategies, and created the final plan. (2023)
Junction City and Geary County Food System Master Plan
Junction City, KS
Live Well Geary County Food Policy Council completed a Food System Plan to provide a 10 year guide for the development of their community’s food system. This planning process provided a comprehensive approach to food system efforts – by identifying policy solutions that influence how food is produced, processed, distributed, stored, transported, purchased and consumed. The Plan was unanimously adopted by the Junction City Commission and the Geary County Commission in July of 2022. New Venture Advisors provided strategic direction and technical assistance to them and their local planning partners in the development of this plan, supported the adoption process, and is supporting early stage Plan implementation efforts. (2022)
Riley County and City of Manhattan, KS Food System Master Plan
Manhattan, KS
The Food and Farm Council of Riley County and City of Manhattan, KS partnered with New Venture Advisors to complete a Food System Master Plan that would guide the development of a dynamic and sustainable community food system. This was a comprehensive approach to identify policy solutions that influenced how food is produced, processed, distributed, stored, transported, purchased and consumed. NVA and the Food and Farm Council engaged community members and food system stakeholders to inform goals and action steps, and the finished Plan was adopted by the governing bodies of the City of Manhattan and Riley County. The planning project was funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas’ Pathways to a Healthy Kansas community grant program. (2022)
City of Wichita Food System Master Plan
Wichita, KS
The Health and Wellness Coalition of Wichita’s Food Policy Committee is developing, connecting and building a local food environment that creates a sustainable food system to serve the needs of producers, suppliers and consumers. The Coalition is composed of numerous organizations including the Greater Wichita YMCA which serves as fiduciary for the Coalition. By partnering with the City of Wichita to create a 10-year Food System Master Plan, they are guiding the development of community food assets in Wichita, Kansas. A Food System Master Plan process is an opportunity to provide a comprehensive approach to food systems efforts – identifying policy solutions that influence how food is produced, processed, distributed, stored, transported, purchased and consumed. New Venture Advisors provided technical assistance, guided the collaborative planning process, and authored the master plan. (2021) Download plan here.
Douglas County Food System Plan
Douglas County, KS
In 2016, Douglas County embarked on a process to update the Lawrence-Douglas County Comprehensive Plan, set a framework for the next 10 years to guide policy changes by its local governments, to shape the work of the Douglas County Food Policy Council (DCFPC), and to inspire community actions and partnerships. The year-long process engaged stakeholders from across the food system through dozens of focus groups, community meetings, and sector-specific surveys. It also piloted an innovative model of engaging underrepresented voices through participatory action research, where community members led efforts to connect with and engage those traditionally left out of policymaking decisions. The resulting Food System Plan includes specific policy goals, objectives, and action steps to guide the community’s ten-year vision for food system development. This initiative was overseen by Eileen Horn in her role as Sustainability Director for the City of Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas, prior to her engagement with New Venture Advisors. (2016)
