A new report from The Los Angeles Food Policy Task Force calls for the government to take steps to increase accessibility to local, healthy food in urban areas.
Policy aims include building more efficient food distribution systems within the city's 200-mile foodshed and lowering prices for fresh foods to levels competitive with processed products. Specific recommendations include establishment of a central downtown market for wholesale exchange and creation of a Good Food Council to unite likeminded groups to fight the "food desert" phenomenon.
Los Angeles is uniquely poised to become a national leader on the issue, says Alissa Walker:
"This is a place where L.A. really has no choice but to be a leader: California is the largest agricultural exporter in the country and could make a drastic impact on federal policy."
The report will be formally announced tonight at a fundraiser featuring food from over 30 Los Angeles chefs.
Read the full story: Los Angeles Announces a Sweeping Local Food Policy
Is This a Way Forward for Urban Farming?
Pulling in community members and a network of local nonprofits, Phoenix's "Spaces of Opportunity" is an attempt to make urban farming something more than a catchphrase.
From Breadbasket to Food Desert
The rural Midwest produces much of our nation's food supply, and yet small towns in the heartland and around America are increasingly and ironically becoming food deserts - places where citizens have little access to fresh, healthy foods.
Widening Waistlines Weigh on Developing Cities
Cities across the developing world are dealing more with rising obesity rates as urbanization occurs, reports TheCityFix's Jonna McKone.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority