Greater Philadelphia Food System Study | NESAWG

Farming, Food Access, Food Systems, Land Use

A food system is a set of interconnected activities or sectors that grow, manufacture, transport, sell, prepare, and dispose of food from the farm to the plate to the garbage can or compost pile. Greater Philadelphia is comprised of many community food systems, but is also served by a regional food system, and fits within a global food system.

The Greater Philadelphia Food System Study, published in 2010, was undertaken to better understand the complicated regional food system that feeds Greater Philadelphia. DVRPC’s food system study focuses on the agricultural resources, distribution infrastructure, regional economy, and stakeholders acting within the regional foodshed.

DVRPC’s planning area consists of nine counties — Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties in southeastern Pennsylvania; and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer counties in southern New Jersey. For the purposes of this study, DVRPC’s nine-county planning area constitutes the population base, while a 100-mile “foodshed,” consisting of 70 counties in five states (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania), make up the theoretical production area of Greater Philadelphia’s regional food system.   

Read the study. >