Greater Pittsburgh Food Action Plan (GPFAP)

The Greater Pittsburgh Food Action Plan (GPFAP) is a community-driven framework for building a more just, sustainable, and resilient regional food system. This page houses historic reports, progress updates, and resources to support ongoing food systems work across the region. The GPFAP is a community-centered approach to a policy roadmap and an action plan of strategies that prioritize healthy, affordable, and sustainable food for all.

Vision:

A regional food system, rooted in collaborative, community-based decisions, that prioritizes equity and supports the health of our people, our natural resources and our economy.

Access to Healthy Food in Greater Pittsburgh

In the Greater Pittsburgh region, many families face barriers to putting healthy, fresh, and local food on the table. Rising food prices, limited grocery store access, transportation challenges, and gaps in knowledge around cooking or food storage can make it difficult to eat well consistently. These challenges often contribute to health problems, missed days at school or work, and added stress for households.

Food insecurity touches every community in our region, but it has the greatest impact on neighborhoods with higher numbers of low-income families, Black and Brown residents, seniors, and people living with disabilities.

At PFPC, our focus is on long-term solutions that make healthy food more accessible and affordable while also supporting local farmers, food businesses, and workers. The goals and recommendations in this section focus on building long-term, sustainable strategies to improve access to and consumption of healthy, local food while addressing the root causes of hunger in the region. The strategies highlight market-based approaches that also advance other priorities, such as strengthening local food production, supporting the financial health of farms and food businesses, and reducing food waste. Importantly, this work emphasizes reducing inequities in who has access to healthy food and expanding the availability of good-quality, living-wage jobs within the regional food system.

Goals:

1. Enhance coordination and communication among existing food systems’ resources and agencies;

2. Center the roles of equity, sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship in a healthy food system;

3. Support a robust regional food economy that benefits all;

4. Improve food security and public health by increasing availability and accessibility of nutritious, high-quality, affordable and locally-sourced food;

5. Build community power based on the principle of food sovereignty for all residents.