As urban consumers become more interested in their food and where it comes from, communities are increasingly integrating food into mainstream planning and policymaking.

The food producers, largely from rural areas, are rarely at the table for these discussions and the impacts of urban policy on production practices and supply chains are often not considered.

With support from the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research, we are collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to study the impacts of integrated food policy plans, using Denver as a case study, on rural social, political, cultural, physical, financial, natural, and human issues—and will focus especially on evaluating the inevitable trade-offs that will occur.