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Explore poverty indicators across 100+ cities in the United States and customize sustainability strategies to reduce poverty. Choose a City »
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Explore poverty indicators across 100+ cities in the United States and customize sustainability strategies to reduce poverty. Choose a City »
See where poverty exists and calculate what strategies can overcome the poverty gap.
closeCreate jobs by supporting low-income food entrepreneurs and increasing local food self-sufficiency. This may include urban agriculture, shared kitchens combined with hands-on training, business development, and technical assistance.
Patronizing local disadvantaged food-related businesses through local spending has the potential to create jobs and increase access to healthy foods. In Detroit, Michigan diverting 5% of average household food expenses to local disadvantaged businesses has the potential to create 985 jobs.
Action: Increase the portion of household food expenses that are spent at local disadvantaged businesses. Design a buy local campaign and use local vendors for city led events.
Additional Benefits: Increased local jobs, healthy food choices, and reduced emissions from the transport of food.
Stakeholders: Entrepreneurs, consumers, local health departments, food-related non-profits, chambers of commerce, community development financing institutions.
Where it’s been done: Michigan's cottage industry law exempts home-based food entrepreneurs making less than $25,000 per year, from licensing and inspection provisions. Products can be sold directly to customers at farmers markets or other directs markets, after required labeling guidelines are met. Reducing barriers for small-scale home kitchens encourages entrepreneurship and serves as training for future business expansion.
Michigan: Taste the Local Difference, a Michigan based organization is a local food marketing agency that helps farmers promote their produce and educates consumers on where to buy local food. The agency began as a program to promote local food within the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities in 2004 and was recently purchased by a venture capital firm. In addition to printed marketing materials, TLD provides farmers and food producers services to create websites, social media marketing, guidance to participate in events, etc. The annually produced "Guide to Local Food" features farm, farmers markets, retail stores and other materials on local foods. They also maintain a website and mobile app that provides information on local restaurants using local produce.
New Orleans, LA: The New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative (FFRI) was developed in response to post-Katrina conditions that left many communities without grocery stores. The program provides forgivable loans and/or interest-baring loans to grocery outlets or supermarket operators who locate their stores in underserved areas. Some of the requirements include: locating in areas with below average food market sales in low-to-moderate income census tracks; a minimum of 15% or 24 linear feet of store shelf-space dedicated to fresh produce; and working with the city to complete an environmental impact statement. The loans can be used to finance pre-development, site preparation, construction, equipment, staff training, security, or inventory. The program which began in 2011 created 209 jobs across 4 financed projects and has improved healthy food access to 47,400 low and moderate income residents.
Washington, DC: DC Central Kitchen trains jobless adults in culinary careers using food waste from local restaurants to cook healthy food for shelters and nonprofits. In 2017, the organization employed 168 people of which 77 were culinary job training graduates. New hires get paid at least $14.25 an hour, a $1 over DC's minimum wage.
New York, NY: New York City's Green Cart Initiative is a street-vending strategy that sells fruits and vegetables through mobile food carts in neighborhoods with limited access to healthy foods. The program offered 1,000 permits to vendors with the goal to increase points of purchase for fresh produce. Vendors must pay $53 for a food protection course and $50 for the permit, as well as buy their own carts and produce.
According to the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, after a year of implementation the program provided jobs for 900 people (the program had 524 active cart permits). A 2011 study by Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) found 71% of customers reported increases in consumption of fresh produce.
Bay Area, CA: Good Eggs and Farmstead are two online grocery platforms based in Bay Area, California that provide home delivery of locally sourced, fresh produce and products from local farms, grocers, and bakers. As part of its sustainability mission, Good Eggs partners with local producers who employ year round staff, who are paid a steady income and benefits. All their packing material is reusable, recyclable or compostable.
Michigan: Taste the Local Difference, a Michigan based organization is a local food marketing agency that helps farmers promote their produce and educates consumers on where to buy local food. The agency began as a program to promote local food within the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities in 2004 and was recently purchased by a venture capital firm. In addition to printed marketing materials, TLD provides farmers and food producers services to create websites, social media marketing, guidance to participate in events, etc. The annually produced "Guide to Local Food" features farm, farmers markets, retail stores and other materials on local foods. They also maintain a website and mobile app that provides information on local restaurants using local produce.
New Orleans, LA: The New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative (FFRI) was developed in response to post-Katrina conditions that left many communities without grocery stores. The program provides forgivable loans and/or interest-baring loans to grocery outlets or supermarket operators who locate their stores in underserved areas. Some of the requirements include: locating in areas with below average food market sales in low-to-moderate income census tracks; a minimum of 15% or 24 linear feet of store shelf-space dedicated to fresh produce; and working with the city to complete an environmental impact statement. The loans can be used to finance pre-development, site preparation, construction, equipment, staff training, security, or inventory. The program which began in 2011 created 209 jobs across 4 financed projects and has improved healthy food access to 47,400 low and moderate income residents.
Use the Urban Opportunity Agenda calculator to see how this strategy and others can reduce poverty, create economic opportunity, and build stronger communities.
Improve access to jobs with increased transit, rideshare, employer shuttles, and more.
Channel future job growth in the region, specifically growth in well-paid entry level jobs, to areas where those jobs are more accessible to people in poverty.
Invest in making buildings more efficient while creating jobs.
Provide consumer information on smarter choices and investing in efficiency in energy, water, transportation, telecom, and food.
Create jobs for residents currently living in poverty when investing in local infrastructure.
Create childcare entrepreneurship opportunities and provide jobs for people living in poverty.
Create jobs by supporting low-income food entrepreneurs and increasing local food self-sufficiency.
Expand sector-specific job training in industrial sectors with good growth prospects and engage employers in the design of workforce training.
Create jobs by reducing and reusing the waste stream.
Provide opportunities to add rental housing units in mature neighborhoods to reduce housing cost burden.
Poverty reduction itself has the potential to be an economic engine. Targeted investments in sustainable poverty reduction strategies can boost economic growth by reducing inequality and rising household costs which challenge local economies.
Urban Opportunity Agenda was developed by The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) an award-winning innovations laboratory for urban sustainability. CNT delivers game-changing research, tools, and solutions to create sustainable and equitable communities.
Learn more at CNT.org.
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