From plan to plate: Assessing food systems and equity considerations in historical and contemporary comprehensive plans from four U.S. cities

Abstract

Urban planning is a structural driver of health, shaping environments that influence everyday activities and resources that can enable or inhibit health, including food systems. Yet, the extent to which comprehensive plans support equity and how this has evolved remains underexplored. This study analyzes historical and contemporary comprehensive plans from four U.S. cities—Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York City—to assess how equity orientation and food equity considerations have changed over time. Using a structured evaluation instrument comprising 57 indicators, we assess changes in plan strength, comprehensiveness, and content. Results show that while equity orientation has generally improved—most notably through stronger vision statements—food equity considerations remain uneven and fragmented. Nutritional adequacy, spatial equity, and food affordability are increasingly addressed, whereas culturally preferred foods, social equity, and agency remain underrepresented. Notably, improvements in general equity orientation did not always correspond with enhanced food equity measures. Further, comprehensive planning continues to lack public participation processes and often falls short in specifying how proposed actions will be operationalized and monitored. Findings underscore the need for more comprehensive, accountable, and community-informed planning approaches that center marginalized voices and address the structural determinants of food insecurity. We recommend strategies for embedding equity more deeply into both the content and processes of comprehensive and food systems planning, including participatory governance, equity-focused evaluation, and systems thinking.