Watch the recording of SSMC’s webinar to learn how cities can reduce emissions and improve the health of their community by moving toward plant-forward food systems.

Guest speakers:

  • Sophia Hahn, former Berkeley Vice Mayor
  • Leah Kelly from Center for Biological Diversity
  • Samantha Lau from Plant Based Treaty

From Policy to Plate: Scaling Plant-Forward Food Systems in San Mateo County

In the second installment of Sustainable San Mateo County’s (SSMC) webinar series on reducing food emissions, experts gathered to discuss findings and recommendations from the 2025 Indicators Report, which identifies food systems as the third-largest driver of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the county. Here’s a look at the key insights from the panel on how cities can bridge the gap between ambitious climate policy and actual consumption change.

The Reality of the “Food Footprint”

SSMC Executive Director Sarah Hubbard kicked things off with a reality check:

  • The Global Impact: Agriculture accounts for 22% of global emissions, more than transportation.
  • The Local Impact: In San Mateo County, food makes up 17% of household emissions.
  • The Culprit: Nearly half (45%) of those emissions come from animal-derived foods (meat, poultry, fish, and eggs).

If we are going to reduce food emissions, we need to focus on the role of municipalities. Leah Kelly from the Center for Biological Diversity shared that cities account for 70% of global emissions, and it’s where most food is consumed. By 2050, 80% of global food will be consumed in cities. Food is also the highest source of consumption based emissions in cities, averaging 20%. This is primarily due to the outsized consumption of meat, dairy and seafood.

The Implementation Gap: Why Policy is Only Step One

Former Berkeley Vice Mayor Sophie Hahn provided a fascinating “behind-the-scenes” look at why implementation of climate-friendly food policy often stalls. While passing a resolution is a great “business plan,” the execution is often where the rubber meets the road.

“”Policy is a precondition to progress, but it is not progress itself.”

Sophie Hahn, former Berkeley Vice Mayor

Many cities start by looking at procurement, but for many cities, their main food purchasing is for senior centers, schools and jails. These environments come with many regulatory and institutional challenges that make a transition to plant-based difficult:

  • Complex Nutrition Guidelines: Meeting federal standards while shifting to plant-forward menus.
  • Union Contracts: Changing how food is prepared often requires renegotiating labor agreements.
  • Long-term Relationships: Breaking away from “big food” lobbies that have spent decades ensuring things like ketchup are classified as vegetables.

Hahn shared a striking example from schools: Many school cafeterias were built only with “warming ovens” designed to heat frozen, pre-packaged food. Even if a city procures fresh, local produce, the schools might lack the actual cooking facilities or trained staff to prepare it.

Tools for Action – It Starts with Education and Access

Beyond food purchasing, for cities to make real change, all three speakers emphasized the need for consistent, positive education, similar in scope to a public health initiative. It can’t be one event or announcement, it needs to be a sustained initiative while also supporting access to healthy food, particularly among low income residents. For a successful education campaign, cities should focus on:

  • Positive messaging: promote healthy, sustainable food that is good for the body and pocket book.
  • Community partnerships: leverage partners’ tools, expertise and outreach capabilities to ensure you are getting input from and reaching every part of the community.
  • Funding: nothing that isn’t funded ever happened

The panel also highlighted ready-to-use tools that make the transition easier for city leaders:

  • Plant-Based by Default: Leah Kelly from Center for Biological Diversity noted that West Hollywood has seen success by making plant-based meals the “default” choice, reducing “decision fatigue” for consumers.
  • The Plant-Based Treaty: Samantha Lau showcased a “playbook” for cities, including colorful educational posters, coloring books for schools and template resolutions that have already been adopted in other cities
  • Data-Driven Decisions: SSMC’s 2025 Indicators Report and Sustainability Dashboard track city’s food-related GHG emissions over time.

5 Strategies for Local Government

To move the needle, the experts recommend that cities:

  1. Track food consumption emissions each year (see the Environmental Law Institute’s Toolkit for Incorporating Plant-Based Protein Measures in Municipal Climate Action Plans for calculator suggestions.)
  2. Set Targets: Include food reduction plans and concrete goals in Climate Action Plans.
  3. Lead by Example: Implement plant-based defaults for city events (see SSMC’s Plant-Based by Default Ideas Bank Solution.)
  4. Educate the Community: Use “positive messaging” to highlight the health and cost benefits of plant-forward diets.
  5. Support Local Access: Protect funding for programs like CalFresh at Farmers Markets.
  6. Fund the Change: Provide grants to community partners to handle the “softscape” of behavioral change.

What’s Next?

The biggest thing cities can do is get started, focus on one thing and do it really well.

Check out the resources for cities on our Sustainable Eating page. This includes the resources shared by our speakers.

Also, watch recordings of the other two webinars in this series:

  • How to Advocate for Plant-Forward Policies – hear how Campbell has worked with the community to add food-based emissions and a consumption based emissions inventory to their Climate Action Plan, and work towards passing and implementing a plant-based policy.
  • Programs to Reduce Food Waste in Schools – learn about programs available to schools in San Mateo County to educate students and staff about the “why” of reducing food waste and the different tools and programs available.