Improving equitable access to healthy and sustainable foods

Promoting and optimizing physical and economic access to healthy and sustainable foods can boost local economies, improve environmental sustainability and support small-scale producers. Specific attention should be paid to implementing policies that support and protect smallholders, family farms, peasants, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth. National and local policy actions for building and strengthening sustainable and healthy food options include the following measures: 

• Food trade and supply chains:
  • Design trade policies at national and sub-national levels to prioritize the supply of sustainable, nutritious, safe, and diverse foods while considering the context-dependent benefits of local and international supply chains, the protection of smallholder farmers and fishers and food price stability.
  • Upgrade and maintain markets that provide nutritious and sustainable foods to all communities, especially low-income and marginalized communities. Ensure these communities have the infrastructure needed for food safety, including clean water, public toilets and waste removal services.
  • Implement high quality waste management practices and markets through a circular economy approach.
  • Improve connectivity between rural, peri-urban, and urban supply and demand centres through infrastructure and market linkages (e.g. improved roads, public transit routes), markets (e.g. urban centres) and technologies (e.g. e-commerce options) to provide consumers a greater diversity of nutritious foods and support local economies. Particular attention should be paid to improving connectivity in areas where multidimensional poverty is widespread.
  • Promote environmentally friendly kitchen gardens in urban and peri-urban settings.
• Community and city planning:
  • Enact laws and regulations that mandate the integration of food accessibility into community design processes (e.g. land-use planning, zoning and the design of new community developments). Communities should be designed to include fresh produce grocery stores, healthy corner stores, community, school and worksite gardens, food marts, and farmers’ markets. 
  • Use zoning laws to regulate the location and density of fast-food restaurants in neighbourhoods and near schools and to eliminate barriers to sustainable and healthy food vendors, community gardens and farmers’ markets; and eliminate barriers for farmers and fishers for selling or providing whole uncut fruits or vegetables.
  • Consider food accessibility in other policy domains including (but not limited to) rural and urban tourism, transportation, infrastructure building and waste management.
  • Proactively plan for food environments where urbanization and rapid demographic growth occurs to ensure that all populations – and in particular, populations most at risk of malnutrition and food insecurity (e.g., children) – have equitable access to adequate, sufficient, culturally appropriate, affordable, nutritious, and safe foods for healthy diets.
• Public procurement:
  • Implement local and national food procurement policies that discourage the consumption of unhealthy, unsustainable foods while increasing healthy vending options and include healthy, sustainable, and climate-positive eating guidelines. See Integrating healthy and sustainable diets in public procurement.
• Dietary guidelines:
  • Mandate local health departments to implement policies supporting access to fresh fruits and vegetables (e.g. farmers markets). Engage community partners to identify community champions, entrepreneurs, environmental organizations and other stakeholders in local food markets. See Introducing food systems-based dietary guidelines.
• Public finance:
  • Repurpose subsidies for agricultural and fisheries practices that are harmful to climate, that put excessive strain on natural ecosystems and wild species, and that negatively impact public health to promote environmentally friendly inputs, practices, and products.
  • Use financing and tax incentives to increase equitable access to healthy and sustainable food through small loans and grants to corner stores to purchase refrigeration for fresh food produce (e.g. fruits, vegetables and dairy) and financing for start-up costs for grocery stores in food deserts to make food prices affordable.
  • Leverage fiscal space through measures (e.g., progressive taxation), as appropriate, to prioritize public services and equitably distribute available resources for supporting the communities most impacted by malnutrition and food insecurity, while also addressing the roots of inequality.
  • Increase funding to develop quality controls for food markets.
  • Increase sustainable, responsible investment in skills development, vocational programs, apprenticeships, job pairing, programming for mentorship, entrepreneur coaching services, business incubation services, business education, and programs on management consulting. Investment should focus on improving connections between markets and the populations facing inequalities, including Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth.
  • Invest in scaling up decent rural farm employment, non-farm employment, and livelihood opportunities, especially focused on women and youth. Specific action could be to enhance investments in entrepreneurship, enterprise, smallholders, and family farms to ensure equitable, inclusive, and decent opportunities exist to earn income, both in and outside of agricultural sectors. 
  • Build partnerships with foundations, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to invest in infrastructure development for urban gardens to promote equitable access to healthy and sustainable foods in the communities. 
  • Establish or increase funding for outreach, education, and transportation to improve access to farmers’ markets and farm stands by residents of lower-income neighbourhoods.
  • Offer incentives (e.g. public recognition or endorsements) for restaurants that promote healthier options in several ways (e.g. by offering healthier and sustainable foods, serving age-appropriate portion sizes or making healthier menu options the default). 
  • Establish, promote and invest in universal access to social protection programs – including cash transfers, food vouchers and food delivery – to increase the availability, affordability and appeal of nutritious and sustainable foods, while providing direct support to bolster nutrition and food security. For instance, implement incentive programs such as vouchers redeemable for specific quantities of fruits and vegetables, or programs that match funds for families to acquire additional food produce. It is important that program be designed based on analysis to understand and address the particular barriers for communities to access social protection systems. Programs should also encourage community-based organizations and stakeholder participation in designing, implementing, and monitoring social protection policies or program.

Effective implementation of policy measures to build and maintain equitable, accessible and affordable food environments at the local and national level requires policy enabling conditions and actions, including the following:

• Promote and support creation of farmer cooperatives to enable co-investment and sharing of costs of farm inputs and marketing of their produces. Cooperatives can strengthen farmers’ and fishers’ positions in the supply chains and create a platform for sharing know-how with each other.
• Enhance stakeholder collaboration by building and maintaining platforms for engaging farmers and fishers, food suppliers, retailers, consumers and others at the local level to ensure effective policy design and implementation.
• Promote the use of digital technologies such as smartphones and social media platforms to improve cooperation and horizontal coordination between farmers and fishers, retailers and consumers. 
• Encourage networking and building relationships, such as supporting local food marketplaces, which can connect urban and rural communities and strengthen relationships between market actors. Local food markets also offer opportunities to showcase local food traditions.

Tools and guides to assist the implementation and support the successful enhancement of physical and economic access to sustainable and nutritious foods include:

Tools

Guides

Improving equitable access to healthy and sustainable foods plays a vital role in advancing climate change mitigation and promoting public health, while directly aligning with the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience, supporting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Climate change mitigation benefits

Enhancing physical and economic access by shortening supply chains produces climate change mitigation benefits in several ways. Minimizing the distance food travels reduces greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Additionally, physical proximity creates a more responsive and agile supply system, thereby reducing food waste and its associated emissions, while reducing car use.) by consumers for food purchase. Making local, sustainably produced foods affordable and readily available also potentially decreases demand for imported, high-emissions foods. Further, policies that improve local food access and are equitable help to bolster local economies and can reduce communities’ vulnerabilities to global market shocks, which themselves can lead to inefficient resource allocations and wasteful emissions.

Climate change adaptation benefits

Among the seven key areas of adaptation put forward in the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience, improving physical and economic access to healthy and sustainable foods can directly contribute to:

• Target 9b (Food & Agriculture): Enhancing access to healthy and sustainable foods can support the development of resilient food systems. It encourages the adoption of agricultural practices like crop diversification which boost resilience by reducing losses from crop failures from various climate risks.
• Target 9c (Health): Access to a reliable supply of nutritious and sustainable foods improves overall public health by reducing malnutrition, diet-related diseases, and vulnerability to climate-related health risks such as heat stress and vector-borne illnesses. When healthy food is accessible and affordable, people are better equipped to maintain strong immune systems and recover from climate shocks.
• Target 9f (Livelihoods): By improving access to sustainable foods, new economic opportunities are created, such as jobs in sustainable farming, food processing, and local markets. This helps stabilize incomes, reduces poverty, and enhances the ability of communities to adapt to changing climate conditions.

Biodiversity benefits

Expanding public access to sustainable foods can support the achievement of several KM-GBF targets, particularly:

• Target 7 (Reduce Pollution to Levels That Are Not Harmful to Biodiversity) and Target 10 (Enhance Biodiversity and Sustainability in Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fisheries, and Forestry): Measures to improve access to healthy and sustainable foods can enhance biodiversity and environmental sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, and fisheries by creating demand for foods that are produced with eco-friendly practices that minimize <a href="https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/6yoepbekgh_wwf_uk<strong>driven_to_wastethe use of harmful pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, excess water, and energy while supporting ecosystems and agro-biodiversity.
• Target 11 (Restore, Maintain and Enhance Nature’s Contributions to People): Improving access to healthy and sustainable foods can contribute to restoring, maintaining, and enhancing ecosystem functions and services that are vital for human well-being by increasing demand for foods that are produced with eco-friendly or nature-positive practices.
• Target 16 (Enable Sustainable Consumption Choices To Reduce Waste and Overconsumption): Measures for improved access to healthy and sustainable foods encourage people to make sustainable consumption choices by enabling consumers to pick foods that have a relatively small ecological footprint on ecosystems.
• Target 18 (Reduce Harmful Incentives by at Least $500 Billion per Year, and Scale Up Positive Incentives for Biodiversity): Public financial policies used to improve access to healthy and sustainable foods – for example, subsidy reform, taxation, or investments in rural or marginalized communities – can increase positive financial incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity while eliminating incentives that are harmful for biodiversity.

Other sustainable development benefits

Improving equitable access to healthy and sustainable foods can support delivery of multiple SDGs:

• SDG 1 (No Poverty): Shortened and nutrition-sensitive supply chains strengthen local economies and reduce poverty.
• SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): Direct and affordable access to local foods improves food security.
• SDG 3 (Good Health & Well-Being): Direct access to local foods enhances access to fresher, nutrient-rich products for better health.
• SDG 4 (Quality Education): Improved and equitable access to food with high dietary quality supports the improved cognitive development of mothers, children and future generations.
• SDG 5: (Gender Equality): Gender-sensitive interventions to strengthen local food systems, such as offering skill-building and vocational programmes to women entrepreneurs, or other avenues of public finance, can empower women in communities.
• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): Improved food security and better nutritional status is necessary for gains in economic productivity and growth. Shortened and nutrition-sensitive supply chains increase farm profitability, reducing intermediary costs and generating local jobs.
• SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): Ensuring access to food for vulnerable groups like women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples, and promoting food security in marginalized geographical areas can help reduce inequalities.
• SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities): Short and nutrition-sensitive supply chains in urban areas reduce emissions and connect urban-rural communities.
• SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production): Reduced transportation and storage from localized systems minimizes food waste, promoting sustainable agriculture and responsible consumption.
• SDG 13 (Climate Action): Less transportation in localized markets means a reduced carbon footprint.
• SDG 15 (Life on Land): Localized agriculture conserves biodiversity and ensures sustainable land use.

The success of interventions and projects that increase public access to healthy and sustainable food depends on their design and effective implementation, which can be hindered by both technical and non-technical challenges, including:

• Infrastructure limitations: Substantial upfront investment is required for establishing and maintaining infrastructure for local food markets and shortening nutrition-sensitive supply chains.
• Steep competition from larger producers: Larger, longer supply chains often benefit from economies of scale, which often make their products cheaper than those produced within smaller, local systems. Local systems might struggle to compete with these prices.
• Logistical challenges: Efficiently organizing direct deliveries or on-farm sales require careful logistic planning.
• Vulnerability to external shocks: Localized, nutrition-sensitive supply chains can be particularly vulnerable to external shocks such as severe weather events and diseases.
• Unfair trading practices: The concentration of power, specifically with large-scale retailers controlling significant portions of the food market, often result in practices that undermine the livelihoods of smaller producers, which can range from delayed payments to unreasonable demands on quality without price adjustments.
• Administrative burdens: Engaging in direct sales might come with additional paperwork and costs linked to complying with food hygiene legislations and safety standards.
• Higher costs: Higher production, processing and transportation costs related to food access policies may prove challenging.
• Adverse environmental consequences: An over-reliance on local farming could lead to a loss of essential ecosystem services due to land-use changes that reduce local natural habitats. An increase in local production might disturb local ecosystems, wildlife habitats and carbon sinks.

To reduce trade-offs and address implementation challenges, the following measures should be considered as part of a comprehensive and holistic approach to improving physical and economic access to healthy and sustainable food:

• Encourage small producers to form cooperatives or associations to enhance their collective bargaining power with larger buyers.
• Implement legislative protections that prevent large buyers from exploiting smaller producers. Develop labour protection policies, programmes, and strategies for supporting workers in food systems and strengthen social protections.
• Reduce market access limitations through promoting and developing local farmers markets and dedicated spaces for direct sales and support online platforms tailored for small producers.
• Offer grants for small-scale producers to invest in necessary infrastructure and develop shared distribution and logistics platforms.
• Create and implement regulations that define and penalize unfair trading practices and provide a platform where unfair practices can be reported to foster transparency in the supply chain.
• Enhance efficiency and sustainable practices by encouraging local producers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices, such as permaculture, agroforestry and regenerative agriculture, that can help in reducing the costs of production and processing.
• Establish conservation agreements through working with farmers to set aside portions of land for conservation to avoid a total loss of natural habitat and ecosystem services.
• Promote agroecological landscapes through a mix of agriculture and natural landscapes to preserve ecosystems and wildlife habitats. See Mainstreaming agroecology principles for food governance.
• Establish community-supported agriculture by encouraging local communities to invest in and support local farms, ensuring a consistent demand for produce and reducing the need for frequent transportation to multiple markets.
• Invest in climate-resilient infrastructure that can withstand climate extremes.
• Conduct climate risk assessments and regularly evaluate the vulnerability of the local food system to climate risks and adapt strategies accordingly.
• Promote sustainable transportation and encourage the use of electric or biofuel-powered delivery vehicles to reduce the carbon footprint of deliveries.
• Create partnerships and collaborations of food distribution by forming inclusive alliances with other local producers, cooperatives and distributors to pool resources and streamline distribution efforts, reducing individual transportation needs and costs.
• Establish inclusive organizations for producers of healthy, sustainable foods.

The expansion of access to sustainable and healthy foods necessitates the application of rigorous monitoring tools, well-defined indicators, and integrated analytical frameworks to systematically evaluate implementation processes and associated outcomes. Tools and methodologies relevant for assessing biodiversity, climate-related impacts, and other dimensions of sustainable food access include:

Indicators to monitor biodiversity outcomes

The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to a comprehensive set of headline, component, and complementary indicators for tracking progress toward the targets of the KM-GBF. Some of these indicators could also be functional for monitoring the implementation of this policy option. These indicators are:

Tools to monitor biodiversity outcomes

Not identified

Tools to monitor climate outcomes

Not available

Implementation costs vary by country and local context; however, estimates for farmers’ market and community-supported agriculture initiatives include:

• Farmers’ markets: operating costs include permits, site rental, staffing and marketing, and depending on size and location of the market. The Cary Farmers Market in North Carolina, US implemented a seasonal vendor package in 2024 for a 30-week season, priced at USD 520 total, while the Chattanooga Market charged a weekly booth fee of USD 38 in 2024.
• Community-supported agriculture: a trial for 300 households in the eastern US (Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids) from 2016 to 2018 cost USD 2,439 per household annually (USD 1,884 in implementation-related expenses and USD 555 in participant-incurred costs).

Notable interventions aimed at enhancing physical and economic access to sustainable foods in diverse global contexts include:

• The Food Acquisition Programme (PAA) in Brazil was launched in 2003 and has been a successful example of public policy to increase access to healthy and affordable food. The program aims to guarantee food and nutritional security for the Brazilian population and, at the same time, to strengthen food production by family farmers. Through the program, the government directly and exclusively purchases produce from family farmers and delivers to communities that are in need, as identified by local welfare services including entities in the social assistance network, community kitchens, day care centres and public and philanthropic health, education and justice networks. The produce purchased under the Program was mainly fruits and vegetables, and minimally processed foods such as seasonings, beef, cassava flour and pasteurized milk. The produce contributes to food security and nutrition of its direct beneficiaries and to the promotion of a more sustainable food system by paying higher prices for sustainable produced foods.
• New York City has implemented initiatives like Green Carts, the Healthy Bodega Initiative, and the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) to improve fruit and vegetable consumption among its lower-income residents. The Green Carts program, which provides licenses to vendors for selling fresh produce in low-income areas, has been successful in reaching its target demographic and has led to an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption. The Healthy Bodega Initiative has similarly improved the availability and sales of healthier food options like low-fat milk and fresh produce in local bodegas, while FRESH offers zoning and financial incentives for grocery stores in underserved neighbourhoods, resulting in 80.4% of shoppers reporting increased purchases of fruits and vegetables.

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