Food Systems Plan

The City of Kingston has developed a Food Systems Plan that will provide a guide for the City to take meaningful, impactful, and sustainable action towards strengthening our local food system with a focus on improving food security and equitable access to nutritious foods.

This Plan will build upon and inform the work of the Department of Health and Wellness, which already supports policy, system, and environmental changes to increase access to nutritious foods. It will also support and incorporate the City’s Energy & Sustainability work as a strong, resilient food system is also one that is climate-friendly and regenerative.

*UPDATE NOVEMBER 2025*

We are pleased to announce that the City of Kingston will host a public meeting to present the Food Systems Plan final draft on Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at 6:00pm in Council Chambers at City Hall.

Kristin Kessler, Director of Community Health for Ulster County, and Angela Hansen, from Food Systems Foresight, a Hudson Valley-based, women-led business that supported the creation of the Food Systems Plan, will present the plan to the public and answer questions. A public comment period will be open until January 7th.

Comments can be entered below.

*UPDATE AUGUST 2025*

We are continuing to move forward on the Food System Plan! As a reminder, below is a brief timeline since last year's community engagement period:

• September 2024- The City of Kingston received the Food System Plan draft from the consultant team
• October 2024- The City of Kingston and the consultant team discussed updates to the Plan draft
• November 2024- The City of Kingston received the final Food System Plan draft from the consultant team
• December 2024-January 2025- A group of Public Advisory Committee members spent 2 months using their areas of expertise and lived experiences in Kingston reviewing, reflecting on, and updating the draft Plan to make it even more specific and tangible for Kingston
• February 2025- The City of Kingston shared the updated Food System Plan with the consultant team to complete the graphic design
• March 2025- Unfortunately, the consultant team's graphic designer was no longer available, so the City of Kingston elected to move forward with finding its own graphic designer
• May 2025- After receiving numerous proposals, the City of Kingston identified a new graphic designer with both extensive graphic design experience and a food systems background!
• June 2025- Work began on the graphic design of the Food System Plan

It is now with a graphic designer to create a document for public review that is attractive, intuitive, and easy to read. We hope to release the plan for public comment in Autumn 2025.

Thank you for your patience! Through continued reflection, refinement, and strategic pauses that allow for us to absorb and evolve from the ever-shifting landscape of food systems work, we hope to present a plan this autumn that is stronger and even more ready for immediate action once it is adopted.

For questions, please contact Kristin Kessler at kkessler@kingston-ny.gov.

Why is the City of Kingston developing a Food Systems Plan?

• The Food System Plan was included as a recommended in the City of Kingston's American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)'s Economic Recovery Plan .
• It aligns with other plans and projects:
  • Kingston 2025 Comprehensive Plan- Promoting urban agriculture, social interactions through gardens, and supporting the area as a destination for food and dining, including encouraging a farmers' market and establishing a community kitchen.
  • Kingston Climate Action Plan 2030- Managing resources sustainably, including reducing food-associated emissions, organics waste collection, increase participation in community gardens
  • Kingston Urban Agriculture Planning Zoning Study Phase 1 and Phase 2
  • Kingston Open Space Plan
• Food systems are complex, with complex drivers and problems, which require holistic, comprehensive solutions. This plan will take a systems point of view and provide medium and long-term solutions in addition to short term fixes.
• Having a Plan will help the City secure necessary resources to enact and/or support change to improve our food system.

What is a Food System?

In it's simplest form, a food system is the web of activities and people it takes to get food from the farm to your plate, including growing, harvesting, processing, transporting, selling, eating, and disposing/waste recovery (see image above). Because we all must eat to survive, we are all an important part of the food system!

What Are the Benefits of a Strong Food System?

A strong local or regional food system can[1]:

• Support the local economy
• Reduce food insecurity
• Reduce food waste
• Increase community and individual health by increasing biodiversity, freshness, and nutritional value of foods

It is clear that a food system is quite complex, and both influences and is influenced by a number of other systems and factors, such as health, environmental, social protection, and more. To dive deeper into the many different ways to transform a food system, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a leading global food systems entity, recently released their State of Food and Agriculture 2023.

Source: Kristin Muthui and Jim Woodhill. 2023. What Future for Youth in Africa’s Agri-Food Systems? Discussion Paper. Systemic Link Consulting, Foresight4Food, FARA, AGRA, Mastercard Foundation. Oxford.