Photo of the San Francisco skyline with a rooftop mural in the foreground.

Food and Agriculture

Strengthening the Bay Area's urban and regional food systems

Photo by Michael Waldrep


From 2011 to 2024, SPUR ran a program focused on food and agriculture policy. In May 2024, the program started a new chapter as Fullwell, an independent nonprofit public policy group working to put an end to food insecurity and create a healthy, just, and sustainable food system. The team continues to focus on the same campaigns it originated at SPUR, only from a new home. Learn more at fullwell.us.

 

Double Up Food Bucks California

Piloting a scalable model for making healthy food more affordable

One of the biggest obstacles to healthy eating is the affordability of healthy food. Our Double Up Food Bucks California project helps families overcome that barrier. The project provides matching funds so that families and individuals participating in the CalFresh program can buy even more fresh fruits and vegetables at the grocery store.

Healthy Food Project

Read more about the project

 

Medically-Supportive Food and Nutrition

Expanding health care coverage to use food as medicine

The need for these food-based interventions in Medicaid has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which highlighted many health and social inequities, especially for Black and Brown communities. This pandemic emphasizes the need to use food to treat and prevent chronic disease and to decrease the effects of health disparities and food insecurity on chronic disease.

Medically-Supportive Food and Nutrition

Read more about the project

Featured Publications

Healthy Food Within Reach

Helping Bay Area residents find, afford and choose healthy food

One in 10 adults in the Bay Area struggle to find three meals a day, while more than half of adults are overweight or obese. To meet our basic needs, improve public health and enhance our quality of life, Bay Area residents must have access to healthy food. SPUR recommends 12 actions that local governments can take to improve food access in Bay Area communities.
Read the report >>

 

Locally Nourished

How a stronger regional food system benefits the Bay Area

The Bay Area’s food system supports our greenbelt, employs hundreds of thousands of people, and helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. SPUR's recommends a series of policies to help us more effectively capture the benefits of our regional food system.
Read the report >>

 

Public Harvest

Expanding the use of public land for urban agriculture in San Francisco

Urban agriculture has captured the imagination of San Franciscans in recent years. But the city won't realize all the benefits of this growing interest unless it provides more land, more resources and better institutional support.
Read the report >>

Updates

SPUR Supports Creation of Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone in SF

Advocacy Letter /
Access to land is one of the most significant obstacles to the expansion of urban agriculture in the city. This ordinance will address this obstacle by allowing property owners to receive a property tax reduction in exchange for committing their land to urban agricultural use for at least five years.

SF Poised to Create State's First Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone

News /
San Francisco is once again poised to be a pioneer in urban agriculture policy. In June, Supervisor David Chiu introduced an ordinance that create California's first urban agriculture incentive zone and allow property owners who contract their land into urban agricultural use for at least five years to receive a property tax reduction

Compost, Cows and Carbon Markets

Urbanist Article /
The Marin Carbon Project has demonstrated that applying compost to rangeland has clear environmental benefits. Could this be an effective strategy in helping combat climate change?

San Francisco’s Healthy Corner Store Movement

Urbanist Article /
Alarming health statistics led community groups and city agencies to work together to improve nutrition and a healthier food retail environment in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. Their model for corner store conversions shows promise as a community-driven strategy to improve access to healthy food.

Between the Farm and the Grocery Store

Urbanist Article /
San Francisco’s food and beverage manufacturers and distributors provide a critical link between agricultural producers and consumers in the local food economy. They also support economic and employment diversity within the city. Recognizing the importance of the food industry cluster, city agencies and industry leaders are developing recommendations for how local government can better help these businesses start, stay and grow in the city.