Cities across the U.S. spend significant amounts of taxpayer dollars on food each year to feed millions of residents through public facilities such as schools, jails, shelters, and municipal buildings. For example, New York City has a $500 million food budget and serves over 219 million meals and snacks each year, while Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, together have been estimated to spend over $300 million annually on food procurement. For comparison, the State of Illinois spends $12.5 billion yearly to treat chronic disease.

The food offered in city facilities tends to be unhealthy — high in salt, sugar and saturated fat — while nutritious options remain scarce, as demonstrated by evaluations of nutrition standards policies in Boston and Philadelphia. By using their purchasing power strategically to create healthier food environments, cities can improve community well-being and support residents in making healthier choices.

Research suggests changes to foods served in institutions across the U.S. could also potentially reduce long-term health care costs; healthy diets can help lower the risk of diet-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Policies that make healthy diets more accessible could help support healthier, more resilient communities and may also lead to long-term healthcare cost savings by helping to prevent diet-related diseases.

Pursuing healthy food purchasing policies, in which governments set science-based nutrition standards for food purchased and served by city agencies and on city property, is one way to increase access to nutritious food and beverage options, particularly for individuals who rely on city meals, including people with low incomes and city employees. They can also promote health equity by prioritizing city institutions that serve populations experiencing health disparities, like jails and senior feeding programs.

In August, Chicago became the latest city to strengthen such a policy, building on its prior healthy vending machine policy and commitment to the Good Food Purchasing Program. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s new executive order applies to all foods and beverages served or sold on city property, as well as to foods purchased or made available with City funding and sold or served by the City or a contractor of the City. Chicago’s standards adhere to the Food Service Guidelines for Federal Facilities, which aim to reduce sodium, saturated fat and added sugars in foods and beverages, while increasing fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein options. The executive order also states that a culturally appropriate foods toolkit will be developed by the Food Equity Council, and all city agencies must comply with the standards within one year.

Chicago is one of 27 cities that have received a CityHealth medal for Healthy Food Purchasing — a list that includes my home city of Philadelphia, where I was mayor from 2008 to 2016. As of September 2025, Philadelphia has the second highest poverty rate (19.7%) among America’s most populated cities, and Philly’s Black and Hispanic communities are disproportionately impacted. This is true on a national level, too; Black and Hispanic communities experience poverty at a rate of 22.4% and 22.7% respectively, compared to 10.4% in white communities.

Back in 2014, I signed an executive order applicable to all city contracts and agencies to ensure that city residents and workers, people living in homeless shelters and prisons, and youth and other populations who are dependent on public meals could access a broad range of healthy food and beverage options. Specifically, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health created the Philadelphia Nutrition Standards, based on federal dietary guidelines and science-based food standards adopted by other city governments, such as New York and Chicago.

Healthy food purchasing policies like these really can help bring healthier food options to city residents. Less than a decade after implementing our policy, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health reported a 15-30% decrease in sodium on menus offered across city agencies and facilities. We also served more fresh fruits, vegetables, and menu items cooked from scratch.

Other major U.S. cities that have adopted strong Healthy Food Purchasing policies include New York, Boston, Los Angeles, St. Louis and San Antonio. Both Boston’s and Los Angeles’s policies incorporate the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) guidelines, which go beyond nutrition to emphasize environmental sustainability, animal welfare, labor rights, and local economies. These guidelines were developed for large-scale purchasers by the Center for Good Food Purchasing, which also provides verification of the GFPP standards.

Boston’s policy applies to Boston Public Schools, which served 8.5 million school meals during the 2023-24 school year. As part of implementing GFPP, the school system modified its produce solicitations to make it easier for local vendors to bid. This change enabled the district to purchase an additional $425,000 in New England-grown produce, a 66% increase in the dollar value of local products compared to bids issued in 2022.

I commend Chicago for taking a major step to ensure its public food purchasing promotes public health and call on other cities to pursue similar policies that implement strong nutrition standards. As the federal government restricts spending on health and nutrition programs, city leaders must take action to safeguard public health by making it easier to eat a healthy diet – and ultimately help create more equitable communities.

This post was originally published on Next City.