Feldstein authors review article about connection between food systems and land use
If one were playing a word association game and were asked what comes to mind when the terms “food” and “land use” are given, chances are high that the response would be “agriculture.” Yet every stage in the food system, from being grown or raised through being consumed, is place-based. Put differently, everything that happens with our food system involves land use in some way. Even the acquisition of aquatically sourced foods requires a journey that begins from the shore, and yet it is rare to consider the profound ways in which our every interaction with the food system utilizes or determines the use of land. Zoning and other land use management tools have long affected the availability of food in urban communities, reinforcing or amplifying the creation of food deserts. Some jurisdictions have begun to recognize their power to direct food access through land use legislation, while others continue to treat such decisions as value-neutral.
