Food
How Smaller Supermarkets Could Transform American Communities
Bigger is not always better.
Are Your Yelp Reviews Causing Gentrification?
As "foodies" venture into new territory in search of exciting food experiences, they contribute to the transformation of urban foodscapes that have been built by people of color.
Friday Fun: Top 25 Destinations for Foodies
Readers of Travel + Leisure voted for their the top food destinations. Keep this list in mind for when we can travel more freely.
Vertical Farms, Fad or Feast?
Hydroponic indoor farmers hope to charge a premium for plants grown out of season in indoor farms. The notion has generated attention from big investors, but whether or not consumers will follow is an open question.
Local, Organic Farms Won't Save the Food System
The food movement has succeeded in identifying and raising awareness about the vast environmental and public health risks inherent in the world's food systems. Still waiting for a clear path to sustainability, however, is what to do about it.
Industry Analyst Predicts Grocery Store Closures Across the U.S.
Competition from online retailers forced many physical stores to close their doors, that trend could be headed for grocery stores next.
L.A. Restaurant Charges Based on Neighborhood Income
Meals at a Los Angeles restaurant will priced according to the income of the surrounding neighborhood.
What Distinguishes a 'Real' CSA?
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs originally let local buyers support local growers. But with a rise in subscription-based "food box" clubs, it's getting harder to say what a real CSA looks like.
Op-Ed: Habitat III Should Consider Food Systems
The UN's Habitat III conference will be held in October of this year. Thomas Forster argues that urban areas are being considered in isolation, without enough attention to rural areas and food systems.
Award-Winning Project Imagines Insects Will Solve Urban Hunger
A team of Canadian MBA students has won $1 million to alleviate urban hunger with insect-based foods, reports Mary Jander.
The Conundrum of local food and/vs. sustainability
Most plants grown for food require significant amounts of water - water that Los Angeles doesn't have. How does one identify the point at which local isn't sustainable?
If I'm eating chowdah I must be in Boston
One of the ways we identify places is by foods for which those places are known. Baltimore – crab. Maine – lobster. Cincinnati – chili. San Francisco – sourdough bread. Vienna – pastry. Even for a city to which you’ve never been, chances are that in your mind that city has some food association.
Legibility and Food Access
Returning to San Francisco from a trip to New York City, I ruminated on my first experience of staying in midtown in the city in which I was raised. The city is different, of course. Times Square has fulfilled its Blade Runner destiny, and blue Grecian “Greatest Coffee in the World” cups have been supplanted with those from Starbucks. What stayed with me, however, was a brief exchange with another attendee of the same conference for which I was in town. “Everything is so expensive” she lamented. “I see people with yogurts and sandwiches and other things that don’t seem to cost too much, but I don’t know where they get them.” “Oh, there’s plenty of stuff around here” I replied. “You just have to look.”
Africa's Urban Harvest
Faced with climate change and poverty, Africans are focusing on a new farming frontier: the cities.
Coloradans are Least Obese, But Still Gaining Weight
Colorado has been heralded as the trimmest state in the country, but NPR reports that residents' weight is still on the rise.
Top Food Cities in the U.S.
Travel+Leisure polls its readers for the best cities for foodies, with New Orleans taking the top spot.
Boosting the Local Economy Through Local Food
Cities across the country are making efforts to encourage people to buy locally and support the local economy. Food is the main target for local boosters.
The Food System's Negative Impact on Communities
In this food-focused installment of a series on "great places", Grist's Tom Philpott argues that food system as currently structured creates the opposite of great places.
Food Trends
A comment I hear frequently from planners is that the focus on food and planning is “trendy”. I must admit that this puzzles me quite a bit. Professional planners in rural areas have concentrated on planning for agriculture – food planning – for decades. Before we had professional planners, human populations planned their communities around food, whether they were planning how best to follow herds for hunting, structuring early agricultural societies, or developing the first cities where food proximity and trade were central considerations.
Supermarkets Designed to Make You Fat
Access to healthy food is a major issue in public health. But just because there's a grocery store nearby doesn't mean health will improve. One entrepreneur looking at supermarket design says the way stores are laid out negatively affects health.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
