Food System Assessment

In July 2026 OFAHC published the 2026 Community Food Assessment. The assessment builds on the 2018 Food System Assessment and 2019 Food Action Plan to provide an overview of the post COVID-19 Pandemic food access landscape. Topic selection, information-gathering, and recommendations were informed by the Somerville Food Coalition, a dedicated Assessment Community Advisory Group, and other key food system stakeholders, including interviews with Somerville residents. In Summer and Fall of 2026, OFAHC will be sharing the assessment at public events and determining next steps for the Food Action Plan. 

In 2018, the City of Somerville’s Office of Food Access and Healthy Communities, formerly Shape Up Somerville, and the Somerville Food Security Coalition, along with many partner organizations, published the Somerville Community Food System Assessment (FSA). The assessment provided the evidence base needed to understand what the food landscape is today and how people interact with it, particularly as it relates to our food assets, food security, and food economy.  Although completed over 5 years ago, the FSA provides solid foundational knowledge on the robust food system in Somerville. 

The FSA workgroup developed key learnings and next steps which were then prioritized and turned into the 11 goals, 22 recommendations, and 98 action steps making up the Somerville Food Action Plan. The Food Action Plan laid out plans to operationalize those curated next steps and create coordinated meaningful change in Somerville’s food system.

The pandemic catalyzed some of the Plan’s recommendations while forcing others to be de-prioritized.  Other systems, solutions or ideas have since been created. The goal of the Food Action Plan Progress report is to provide a summary of all the changes within the local and regional food system and services landscape over the past few years. It takes many players to move the needle and this report shows that collective effort.