Food and Agriculture

Our goal: Create healthy, just and sustainable food systems, and put an end to food insecurity.

SPUR’s Five-Year Priorities:

• Make healthy food easier to find, afford and choose.

• Preserve agricultural land and reduce the food systems’ environmental impact.

• Support Good Food Purchasing practices, access to farmland and industrial land for farmers and producers, and quality jobs in the food industry.

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

Find more food and agriculture research

  • SPUR Report

    Healthy Food Within Reach

    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 More

  • SPUR Report

    Locally Nourished

    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.

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  • SPUR Report

    Public Harvest

    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.

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  • Ongoing Initiative

    Double Up Food Bucks California

    Double Up Food Bucks California 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. For example, a shopper who spends $10 of CalFresh benefits on California-grown fruits and vegetables at participating stores will get an extra $10 to spend on any fresh produce in the store.

    Read More

Updates and Events

SPUR Supports SB 822 to Make CalFresh More Accessible

Policy Letter May 11, 2020
SPUR supports SB 882, which would simplify the state's CalFresh food assistance application for many older adults and people with disabilities and would increase access to CalFresh during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would eliminate burdensome ongoing reporting requirements and would ensure all applicants can complete the application and interview processes by phone, rather than having to complete the process face-to-face with staff.

How Policymakers Can Keep Food Flowing and on the Table During This Pandemic

News April 6, 2020
Only a couple of weeks into shelter-in-place orders, COVID-19's impact on the economy is crashing down on us. To keep food flowing and avoid historic levels of hunger, SPUR recommends 14 steps that policymakers at the local, state and federal level can, and should, take immediately.

SPUR Comments on Proposed Changes to Medi-Cal

Policy Letter March 16, 2020
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released a draft application to the federal government for exemptions to Medicaid rules to pilot new and innovative strategies for providing healthcare. SPUR supports long-term funding for healthy food incentive programs and with more than 95 additional organizations urges DHCS to include food and nutrition services into the state’s application.

SPUR Opposes the Proposed Revision to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Policy Letter December 3, 2019
The Federal Government's proposed changes to SNAP state heating and cooling utility allowances could result in more than 542,000 people in California losing access to food assistance. It would also directly, and negatively, impact the low-income families and grocery stores participating in SPUR's Double Up Food Bucks Program. SPUR supports maximizing enrollment in federally funded food assistance programs.

A New Vision for Coyote Valley

News November 14, 2019
San Jose’s Coyote Valley is a paradox: Just 20 minutes south of downtown, miles of farmland and open space provide natural habitat for rare and endangered species. For a decade, locals have debated whether to preserve the land or build manufacturing space and grow jobs. Last week, San Jose City Council settled the debate, agreeing to purchase and preserve more than 900 acres.

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