Oral

From climate change to the increasing scarcity of fresh water to reduced antibiotic effectiveness to food security and chronic disease epidemics, the public health impacts of decades of investment in unsustainable agriculture are becoming manifest. Public health evidence is building for the need to move the food system in the direction of health and sustainability, but the specific blueprint for moving from here to there is often lacking. This panel includes speakers presenting such ideas in the form of a) a new research agenda informing evidence-based policy change to bring about a healthier food system, discussed at the April 2009 Food Systems and Public Health Conference; b) case studies compiled by the American Planning Association’s Planning & Community Health Research Center on how planning and public health professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders are collaborating to affect positive changes in access to healthy, sustainable food at the local government level and through the built environment; and c) a speaker from Somerton Tanks Farm, within Philadelphia city limits, will discuss an innovate urban agriculture pilot, supported by the Philadelphia Water Department, for an ecological approach to intensive fruit and vegetable farming using highly sophisticated rotational planting to build soil fertility, reduce pests and raise yields, while protecting watershed quality and enhancing local food systems.

Session Objectives: 1) Discuss specific ideas on how to plan for healthy, sustainable food and water systems. 2) Identify leverage points between food systems and water systems to realize sustainability along with the co-benefits of economic performance, reduced fossil fuel dependence, and better health. 3) Describe the role of multiple public agencies (planning, public health, public works, etc.) in developing and implementing food and land use policy to improve food security and support environmental sustainability.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)