Jacksonville Launches Its First Food Plan: 32 Actions for Growing, Moving and Affording Food
The City of Jacksonville introduced its first comprehensive Food Plan this week — a multi-year roadmap covering production, distribution, access and recovery, built with farmers, food banks and the University of Florida's extension office.
Jacksonville has its first comprehensive plan for food. The City of Jacksonville introduced the Jacksonville Food Plan this week at Feeding Northeast Florida, where Mayor Donna Deegan joined community partners, residents and local growers to unveil a roadmap designed to improve access to nutritious and affordable food while supporting local agriculture and preparing the city for future challenges, according to the city's announcement.
The plan sets a long-term framework across four areas of the local food system — production, distribution, access and recovery — and identifies 32 actions and 79 sub-actions aimed at strengthening the city's capacity to cultivate and distribute food, reduce waste, support local growers and ensure residents can reliably obtain healthy food. It was developed collaboratively with local farmers, food-access advocates and academic institutions, and with organizations including Feeding Northeast Florida, the UF/IFAS Duval Extension Office and Blue Zones Project Jacksonville, the city said. City leaders emphasized the plan is not a short-term program but a coordinated, multi-year strategy for public agencies, nonprofits, businesses and neighborhood partners.
Early implementation is already underway. A key component is stronger support for urban agriculture: the Pathways to Urban Agriculture bill is progressing through the Jacksonville City Council and would modernize zoning codes to make it easier for community gardens, market gardens and urban farms to grow and sell food within city limits, according to the announcement. The full plan, including downloadable formats, is posted on the City of Jacksonville website at Jacksonville.gov/FoodPlan.
