True costs of food: Valuing health impacts of food consumption
Client
Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Project description
This publication describes a method to estimate the health spillover costs of food. The publication serves as a proof of concept within the context of a larger project: ‘The True Cost of Food: Alternative mechanisms to support local food procurement by public agencies in NYS’ project. This project aimed to quantify the true cost of food procured by agencies in New York State and develop a mechanism to transparently adjust procurement bids to account for these costs. The project aimed to correct this cost imbalance through three stages of integrated working streams:
- Estimate the environmental, health and other spillover costs of food procured by NYS agencies.
- Develop a framework for adjusting food vendors’ bids to incorporate these multipliers and spillover costs.
- Engage with NYS agencies and food vendors in implementing true costs in public food procurement.
Therefore, the method in this publication was described in the demographic and dietary context of New York State. However, the authors believe that the method, with minor adjustments, can be applied in the broader context of true cost estimations, so beyond the context of food procurement by NYS public agencies only.
Disclaimer
This publication was supported by an agreement with Cornell University, under Prime Agreement 2022 FOD 003 from The Rockefeller Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University nor those of the Sponsor.
