Author: Molly

APA FOOD Bylaws Update

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The Executive Committee of the American Planning Association Food Systems Division (APA FOOD) has drafted updates to our Division bylaws. The updated bylaws are open to review by members for the next 30 days (through September 25, 2025).

APA FOOD will postpone its summer member meeting to September 25, 2025 at 6pm ET / 3pm PT to conduct a member vote on the proposed changes.

Proposed changes include:

  1. General reorganization and alignment with the model bylaws provided by APA.
  2. The addition of a Vice Chair position to the Executive Committee, creating a pipeline for Division leadership.
  3. Formalizing the Division’s decision to hold our business meeting (a mandatory requirement of APA) in the third quarter of each year (as opposed to at the National Planning Conference).
  4. An updated Division Executive Committee election schedule, clustering elections for all elected positions into the same year (odd years, starting with 2025).

View the updated bylaws here.

Vote to approve or disapprove of the bylaws here.

Questions? Email foodsystemsplanning@gmail.com

Faces of Food Systems: Chad Nabity

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Chad Nabity, AICP is the Community Development Director for the City of Grand Island, Nebraska, and the Planning Director for the Hall County Regional Planning Department. In addition to his day job, Chad is the Divisions Council Chair for the American Planning Association, and a farmer! Chad is one of APA FOOD’s longest-running supporters, and we are thrilled to feature him for Food Systems Planning Month!

What’s your favorite food?

It depends on the time of year and what is available. If I had to pick one I would say tomatoes. On my farm, we grow more than 30 different varieties and plant more than 150 plants every year.

What do you enjoy about your work?

I like to think that my work is helping make my hometown a better and more successful community. I like working with all of the other people involved in development of the city and county including the elected officials, planning commissioners, engineers, developers and property owners.

What do you find challenging about your work?

The most challenging part of the job is watching people make decisions that I think are mistakes. Usually this is done by elected officials and they get the final say. When this happens, it is an opportunity to teach good planning principles and open discussions on the long term impacts of decisions.

What areas of the food system do you focus on in your work, and where does that fit in with the rest of the work that you do?

I am the planning director for a city of more than 50,000 and the county it is located in. Our primary employment sector is based on agriculture, production, processing, and manufacturing. While not expressly stated in our 2004 comprehensive plan, food systems are essential for our economic wellbeing. In most cases this is conventional agriculture and processing, but I am working to make sure that we can and do support and allow more local, small-scale, and sustainable food systems within our plans and regulations.

Do you consider yourself a food systems planner? Why or why not? 

Food systems is not my primary planning responsibility, but it is one of my passions. I would say avocation rather than vocation. This avocation is one of the reasons that I spend my personal time gardening and running a small CSA.

What is the biggest food systems planning-related hurdle your community/organization faced in recent years and how was it dealt with?

We spent about 18 months modifying our confined animal feeding operation regulations within the County. The process involved feed lot operators, attorneys, elected officials, planning commissioners, staff and the general public. The process ended with updated regulations that made small to mid-sized operations permitted uses as long as they could meet the performance criteria and receive approval from the State. We have not had any new operations since the regulations were put into place but that is likely more a function of the amount of our agricultural ground in crop production.

How has your perception of food systems planning changed since you first entered the planning field?

Food systems are recognized as a vital part of local planning. When I began my career, this would not even have been part of the curriculum or discussed at conferences, even in an agricultural based state like Nebraska.

Who has had the most influence on you as a planner? As a food systems planner?

Joe Luther, a professor at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln is the reason that I discovered and fell in love with this profession. Without his influence I would not have taken this path. He was also very involved with Nebraska and national APA and my involvement follows his example. Joel Salatin has influenced me as a food systems planner. His plain spoken, practical thoughts on the modern food system and his methods of creating his own place in that system push me to rethink what I “know” and accept new ways of thought regarding food, especially local food production.

Do you have any advice for someone entering the food systems planning field? What makes you successful in your work? What skills do you use the most in your food systems planning-related work?

My first piece of advice is remember why you got into this field. Does that still resonate with who you want to be and what you want to accomplish during your career? It is ok to move on to other interests and other areas of planning if that is where life takes you, but if this is still your passion, follow it.

My second piece of advice would be that you can likely incorporate food systems planning into any planning related job if you view your activities through a food systems lens. The ability of planners to apply specific lenses–whether it is food systems, EDI, bike/ped or any other lens–is one of the most valuable things that we bring to the table when working with allied professionals. We have the ability and training to synthesize information and complex problems when recommending solutions to decision makers.

What did you study and what do you wish you would have known before starting your work in food systems?

I know that for many people that enter planning it is a design oriented profession. I went to graduate school in planning with a BA in English and Anthropology. For me planning has always been a people-oriented process and an exercise in applied anthropology. Food, water, and shelter are the base of Maslow’s pyramid. Good planning should make those basic needs available and accessible. Good planning is about people and creating possibilities for people to expand their horizons. The ability to access food is one of the basic components of those higher goals.

Faces of Food Systems: Tia Schwab

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Tia Schwab is Policy Advisor for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Food Policy (MOFP). She received her Masters of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy in 2022. Tia conducts food policy research and analysis, and her portfolio includes the NYC Good Food Purchasing program, climate and environment, and food education.

What’s your favorite food?

Fried avocado tacos and chips and queso—or really any Tex-Mex. (I grew up in Austin!)

What do you enjoy about your work?

I love how interdisciplinary it is – food systems work touches health, education, sustainability, climate, equity, and city/regional planning. I get to work with and learn from people across different government agencies and community organizations. I also get to work on food in a variety of settings, like schools, hospitals, shelters, food pantries, older adult centers, detention centers, community centers, and more.

What do you find challenging about your work?

Changing the status quo can be challenging. Improving the food system requires shifting how we grow, package, store, buy, distribute, and discard food, and inertia is powerful–it’s easier to continue doing what we’re doing than to try something new. However, there are talented and passionate people and organizations driving systems-level change forward.

What areas of the food system do you focus on in your work, and where does that fit in with the rest of the work that you do?

Each year, NYC spends over $300M on food and meals served at the city’s schools, older adult centers, shelters, hospitals, pantries, detention facilities, and more. I implement NYC’s Good Food Purchasing framework, which aims to align the city’s food purchases with the values of nutrition, environmental sustainability, local economies, animal welfare, and a valued workforce. I coordinate across city agencies to ensure that meal programs offer choices that are healthy, delicious, culturally relevant, and good for the planet, and this all starts with the food we buy.

Good Food Purchasing intersects with my other portfolio areas of climate and environment, food education, and business and labor. With our food purchasing data, our goal is to decrease the CO2-equivalent emissions of our food purchases by 33% by 2030 and (year over year) increase the dollar spend going to New York State businesses and to minority- and women-owned businesses. I also work on expanding culinary training and nutrition education in a variety of settings across the city. Increasing the preparation and consumption of healthy, delicious meals requires an investment in the city’s culinary workforce and in food education.

Do you consider yourself a food systems planner? Why or why not? 

Yes—at MOFP, I work with a variety of stakeholders to plan and create a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable food system in NYC.

What is the biggest food systems planning-related hurdle your community/organization faced in recent years and how was it dealt with?

Like in many other cities, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic increase in food insecurity in New York City. However, the city mobilized quickly to support vulnerable New Yorkers. It expanded the school meal program to serve three free meals per weekday to all children and adults in need, provided pantries with staffing support and $50 million in funding, implemented an emergency home-delivered meals program for seniors and other at-risk groups, connected large food businesses with PPE manufacturers and donated PPE to smaller grocery stores in highly-impacted areas, provided free childcare for grocery workers and other essential employees, and much more. The city’s response to COVID-19 addressed immediate food needs while creating a plan for improving food system resilience in the longer term.

How has your perception of food systems planning changed since you first entered the planning field?

When I first entered the planning field, my thinking on food systems planning was informed by the importance of addressing immediate needs with advancing upstream strategies for the future, such as investing in food pantries while building regional food hubs. My work in local government has taught me the importance of implementing realistic or pragmatic solutions (under legal or economic realities, for example) while pushing for idealistic, ‘game-changing’ solutions. Neither should be ignored in creating a better food system.

Who has had the most influence on you as a planner? As a food systems planner?

My professor and mentor in college, Dara Olmsted Silverstein, has had the most influence on my path as a food systems planner. My senior year, I took a year-long class with Dara called “Designing Your Pathway to Impact in the Food System,” where we got to explore different career paths, conduct informational interviews with people we admired, and go on field trips to see food systems work in action. There’s not always space in degree programs for self-guided study or exploration, but Dara championed it and encouraged me to test drive different career paths after graduation. Since then, she has continued to support me with advice about navigating job changes, new degrees, and moves to new cities. (And as a bonus, Dara was my manager for my on-campus job in the dining hall food gardens and microgreens greenhouse, so she also inspired an appreciation for the power of growing your own food!)

Do you have any advice for someone entering the food systems planning field? What makes you successful in your work? What skills do you use the most in your food systems planning-related work?

The skills I use the most (and that make me the most successful) are communication, relationship building, and project management. My work requires coordinating across people and teams, in and out of government, to advance projects and track progress. I have always learned the most relevant ‘topical’ knowledge on the job, so supplement your food systems expertise with transferrable skills like writing, public speaking, and problem solving.

What did you study and what do you wish you would have known before starting your work in food systems?

I studied human biology with a focus on food systems and public health as an undergraduate, and I completed my master’s degree in food and agriculture law and policy. Looking back, I would tell myself that you don’t need to have your whole career path figured out; just follow the opportunities that excite you along the way. You will be most effective in driving food systems transformation by working on topics that interest you with people that inspire you.