Resource Library
This curated collection of resources includes reports, guides, fact sheets, toolkits, and other publications that analyze or inform local and regional food systems law and policy. This collection includes resources published by the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems as well as resources published by other institutes and organizations working in food and agricultural policy. The target audience of these resources includes farmers, market managers, policymakers, government workers, and organizations.
If you are looking for example laws and policies, visit the Policy Database.
2020 Gleaning Census
This report gathers data from gleaning organizations across the U.S. to understand their strengths, struggles, and needs.
2021 Food Policy Networks Map
This database provides a map of Food Policy Councils across the U.S.
A Guide for Food Hubs on Food Safety Compliance
This guide outlines the legal landscape for food hub decisionmakers looking to build food safety compliance and risk management strategies.
A Small Farmer’s Practical Guide to Food Safety
This guide provides practical food safety information for small and diversified farms, helping producers understand regulatory requirements and implement on-farm practices that support safe, locally and regionally produced food.
Achieving Zero Food Waste: A State Policy Toolkit
This toolkit contains a range of tried and tested policy opportunities that states can use to prevent food waste and keep food out of landfills and incinerators.
Agritourism Activities and Zoning Examples from around the country
This fact sheet discusses zoning considerations for agritourism businesses and looks at four different state examples.
Authentic Engagement in Action: Hartford, CT
This interview with a community advisory coordinator involved in healthy food access work in Hartford, Connecticut, shows what authentic resident engagement can look like in action.
Authentic Resident Engagement
This resource seeks to explain the definition of "authentic resident engagement" and the working principles to be used throughout the policy development process.
Bans and Beyond: Designing and Implementing Organic Waste Bans and Mandatory Organics Recycling Laws
This report examines organic waste bans and recycling laws across states and cities, highlighting their design, implementation challenges, costs, benefits, and complementary policies.
Benefits of Local Food Purchasing Incentives (LFPIs)
This resource outlines the benefits of Local Food Purchasing Incentives (LFPIs), providing insights and data to support the development and implementation of local food purchasing policies.
Beyond backyard chickens: A framework for understanding municipal urban agriculture policies in the United States
This study develops a framework for understanding municipal urban agriculture policies in the United States by systematically cataloguing policy recommendations, regulations, and programs from the 40 most populous U.S. cities, examining how cities employ various policy instruments across topics ranging from accessory structures and compost to public land access and soil safety.
Boston’s Good Food Purchasing Policy, Part 1
This case study examines how Boston passed an ordinance to improve the way food is sourced and served at city agencies and departments.
Boston’s Good Food Purchasing Policy, Part 2
This case study examines how the Boston’s largest food purchaser, Boston Public Schools, has updated its procurement process according to the Good Food Purchasing Policy.
Capital City Farmers Market Case Study
This case study explores how incorporation and insurance can shield farmers markets against a trip or fall lawsuit.
City Governance and Public Funding
This fact sheet distills the information in the City Governance and Public Funding section of “Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production: A Guide to Local Policy” into key takeaways for producers and policymakers.
Community Gardening Legal & Policy Guide
This guide provides legal and policy information for individuals and organizations interested in starting or supporting community gardens, including zoning, land use, and liability considerations.
Consumer Perceptions of Food Date Labels: 2025 National Survey
This resource examines U.S. consumer perceptions, understanding, and behaviors related to food date labels and their impact on food waste.
Cresent City Farmers Market Case Study
Crescent City Farmers Market uses a market currency system to accommodate customers paying with credit cards, debit cards, or SNAP benefits.
Defining Local Food
From a legal standpoint, what is “local” food? This report describes the various definitions for “local” or other analogous terms used in state laws meant to incentivize or otherwise promote the purchase of agricultural products that meet those definitions. The appendix includes a 50-state scan of “local food” definitions.
Drafting Definitions
There are several reasons why local governments should consider including definitions with new laws or ordinances and think carefully about what terms to define. This guide describes what types of terms should be defined and the common practices for creating good definitions in local laws.
Durham Farmers Market Case Study
This case study explores how carefully crafted market rules supported a market's development.
Economic Impacts of Food Waste Diversion in Illinois
This issue brief discusses the economic, environmental, and social benefits of implementing comprehensive food waste diversion policies in Illinois.
Employment Classification for Farmers Market Managers
Should farmers market staff be classified as employees or independent contractors? This resource provides an overview of why classification matters for federal and state employment, tax, and insurance law, and how farmers market operators can ensure a fairer working environment.
Essential and in Crisis: A Review of the Public Health Threats Facing Farmworkers in the US
This report reviews available research on a variety of public health threats that farmworkers face and demonstrates how these health burdens are, in part, the result of laws, policies, and practices intentionally designed to limit this workforce’s resources and recourse to fight against unsafe working conditions.
Face Mask Requirements and the Americans with Disabilities Act
This resource provides farmers markets with an ADA Compliance checklist and a Market Log for ADA Requests for Reasonable Modifications.
