Healthy Community Requirements

Healthy Food

To qualify for the Healthy Utah Community designation, cities and towns must implement strategies to improve access to healthy food. Below is a list of recommended strategies with resources for each. 

Recommended Healthy Food Strategies

Conduct a messaging campaign to promote healthy eating in your community

 Encourage community members to improve their diet and eat more nutritiously by creating a community-wide messaging campaign about healthy eating. 

Resources

Establish a farmers market that accepts SNAP benefits

Farmer's markets are a great way to make fresh fruits and vegetables available to community members. By accepting SNAP benefits, all community members can have equal access regardless of income level.

Resources

Establish a community garden

A community garden is a space cared for by community members and typically used for home consumption.  Community gardens not only increase access to healthy foods but also increase physical activity and improve social connections.

Resources

Create an edible park/food forest  

Ensuring that city/town-owned/managed facilities have healthy food and beverage options available shows that the health of residents is a priority. A healthy food environment makes it easier for individuals to choose healthy options and increases awareness and availability of healthy food in the community.

Resources

Host a community program to promote healthy eating

A wide variety of community programs are available to help residents access and eat more healthy foods. Examples include hosting a community seed exchange, gardening classes, cooking classes, etc.

Resources

Improve healthy eating among youth by promoting a healthy eating resource, program, or best practice in schools

Improve healthy eating among children and youth by introducing a physical activity resource, program, or best practice into local schools.

Resources

Improve access to emergency food by establishing a food pantry/program or improving an existing one

Ensure that families who are food insecure have local emergency resources, such as food pantries.

Resources

Update ordinances, zoning, and land use policies to allow for better opportunities for urban agriculture

Allow community residents to grow their own food without restrictions by updating ordinances, zoning, and land use policies.

Resources

Adopt ordinances that allow backyard poultry/animal husbandry

Ensure that families who are food insecure have access to emergency resources, such as food pantries.

Resources

Provide financial incentives for a grocery store to locate in an underserved area

Having access to grocery stores is critical for community members to plan and cook healthy meals.

Resources

Improve the food retailer landscape

Improving the balance between healthy and unhealthy food retailers can make eating nutritiously more convenient and feasible for families. Steps can include expediting permitting for new stores that offer healthy food, limiting the density of unhealthy food retailers, etc.

Resources

Encourage menu labeling with nutrition facts

Ensure that community members have the tools needed to make informed decisions about what they eat by encouraging local restaurants and other retailers to label menus with nutrition facts, such as calories per item.

Resources

Promote enrollment in SNAP, WIC, school meal program, and other food access programs

Many federal programs are available to assist with food insecurity and poor access to nutrition. Take steps locally to reduce barriers and promote enrollment in these programs.

Resources

Conduct a Community Food Assessment or healthy food access audit

Conduct a Community Food Assessment or healthy food access audit to better understand the food needs of your community members and inform future efforts and policies.

Resources

Create a Food Policy Council or Task Force tasked with identifying recommendations for your community to follow.

Starting a Food Policy Council or Task Force can be an effective way to organize and sustain efforts to improve the food system in your community, as well as address food insecurity and poor nutrition.

Resources

Adopt a city plan to improve access to healthy food in your community such as revising the general plan, creating a Community Food System Plan, etc. 

Map out how your community will improve access to healthy food now and in the future by developing a Community Food System Plan or revising your general plan to address food access.

Resources

Implement one new worksite wellness strategy around healthy food among city employees and/or local businesses

Ensure city and town employees have access to healthy food during the workday by implementing a relevant worksite wellness policy.

Resources

Partner with a local organization to implement a program listed on the Healthy Eating Menu of Services

In addition to the above strategies, you may also choose to implement a program listed in the Physical activity Menu of Services. Each program you implement will be counted as a strategy towards the designation.

Menu of Services

 

Is your community doing other things that you think may qualify you for the Healthy Utah Community designation?
Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to check if they count toward the designation.