Chapter 21D — FOOD PURCHASES AT HOSPITALS OPERATED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH…

Sec. 21D.1. Findings.

Sec. 21D.2. Good Food Purchasing Standards.

Sec. 21D.3. Goals for Hospitals.

Sec. 21D.4. Goals for Jails.

Sec. 21D.5. Reporting Requirements.

Sec. 21D.6. Partial Sunset Date.

(a) In 2009, Mayor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Directive 09-03, entitled “Healthy and Sustainable Food for San Francisco,” declaring the City’s commitment to increasing the amount of healthy and sustainable food, and including a series of principles to guide the directive that addressed economic and environmental sustainability, social responsibility, healthy food accessibility, and more.

(b) In 2016, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) adopted Good Food Purchasing Standards, and has continued its commitment to improving the district’s food purchasing. According to a 2025 Center for Ecoliteracy Report titled, “Fresh from California: Building Resilient Farm to School Programs and Serving School Meals Kids Love,” 43% of food served within school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area is California grown. SFUSD and Bay Area schools serve as examples of the progress and impact that entities can make with continued commitment to Good Food Purchasing Standards.

(c) In January 2018, a Board of Supervisors committee held a hearing on the development of good food purchasing (Board File No. 170843), and in June of that year the Board adopted a resolution (Res. No. 191-18) urging the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Sheriff’s Department to conduct a baseline assessment of existing food vendors to evaluate their alignment with the Good Food Purchasing Standards of the Center for Good Food Purchasing. As of the end of 2019, baseline assessments of the City’s hospital and jail food procurement to assess alignment with values-based procurement were completed by the Center for Good Food Purchasing in partnership with DPH and the Sheriff’s Department. These assessments are on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in Board File No. 200244.

(d) In 2020, the Board of Supervisors enacted this Chapter 21D requiring DPH and the Sheriff’s Department to procure food for City hospitals and jails in alignment with the Good Food Purchasing Standards.

(e) In 2021, then Mayor London Breed presented an updated Climate Action Plan based on research coordinated by the Department of the Environment. The 2021 Climate Action Plan identified 10 key climate solutions, one of which is Responsible Production and Consumption, which involves “[r]educing the carbon footprint of the food system by reducing waste, promoting climate-friendly diets, and getting excess food to communities in need.” The second point of this key strategy—promoting climate friendly diets—directly aligns with Good Food Purchasing Program Standards, which aim to reduce meat consumption and shift institutions to purchase more locally grown, sustainably produced food products.

he carbon footprint of the food system by reducing waste, promoting climate-friendly diets, and getting excess food to communities in need.” The second point of this key strategy—promoting climate friendly diets—directly aligns with Good Food Purchasing Program Standards, which aim to reduce meat consumption and shift institutions to purchase more locally grown, sustainably produced food products.

(f) Cities and other public entities across the United States have adopted “Good Food Purchasing Standards,” including: Los Angeles Unified School District (2012); City of Los Angeles (2012); San Francisco Unified School District (2016); Oakland Unified School District (2016); Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, and the City of Chicago (2017); Cook County, Illinois (2018); Washington, D.C. Public Schools (2019); Cincinnati Public Schools (2019); City of Boston, including Boston Public Schools (2019); and Austin Independent School District (2019); San Francisco (2020); Santa Clara (2021).

(g) In a May 2023 University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources report entitled “Farm to Corrections: Opportunities & Challenges in Integrating California-Grown Produce Into the State Prison System,” the authors opine that poor nutrition in state carceral facilities increases the risk for poor physical and psychological health outcomes, leading to increased long-term health care costs, which impact individuals, facilities, and surrounding communities.” Investing in the day-to-day health of the incarcerated population can lead to significant savings in the long run.” The San Francisco Food Security Task Force’s report for 2025 included recommendations that aligned with this finding, noting that nutrition and food security are directly tied to health and that access to healthier food can decrease health care costs.

(h) The Good Food Purchasing Program, as established by the Center for Good Food Purchasing, supports public institutions in transforming the way they purchase food, by creating a transparent and equitable food system built on principles of equity, accountability, and transparency, and rooted in five core values: local community-based economies; environmental sustainability; valued workforce; animal welfare; and community health and nutrition. Each of the five value categories has a baseline standard that institutions must meet in order to be considered a “Good Food Leader.” A copy of the Good Food Purchasing Program is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. 200244. These standards are based on thirdparty certifications ranked by national experts in each category. The program allows institutions to assess their food vendors’ alignment with the good food purchasing standards, and sets multi-year goals for meeting the baseline standards, with flexibility to prioritize some categories over others. The five value categories are as follows:

(1) Local and Community-Based Economies: Support small and mid-sized agricultural and food processing operations within the local area or region, including those owned by people who have experienced negative systemic social and/or economic impacts.

(2) Environmental Sustainability: Support producers that employ sustainable production systems that reduce or eliminate synthetic pesticides and fertilizers; improve soil health and carbon sequestration; reduce fossil fuel inputs and protect water resources; support biodiversity and ecological resilience; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and reduce or eliminate single use-plastics and other resource-intensive packaging.

(3) Valued Workforce: Source from producers and vendors that provide a dignified livelihood, which includes respect for the right to organize, safe and healthy working conditions, and fair compensation for all food chain workers and producers, from production to consumption.

(4) Animal Welfare: Source from producers that provide healthy and humane conditions for farm animals, and reduce the number of animal products purchased and served by shifting toward plant-based foods.

(5) Community Health and Nutrition: Promote health and well-being by offering generous portions of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and minimally processed foods, while reducing salt, added sugars, saturated fats, and red meat consumption, and eliminating artificial additives. Improve equity, affordability, accessibility, and consumption of high quality, culturally relevant good food in all communities.

(i) Many of the aforementioned value categories, including not only Environmental Sustainability, but also Local and Community-Based Economies, are critically connected to the City’s efforts to combat climate change. While the City’s efforts have focused on reducing emissions through strategies via transportation, buildings, and zero waste as documented in the Department of the Environment’

(j) DPH serves approximately 5,000 meals per day (approximately two million per year) and the Sheriff’s Department serves approximately 4,200 meals per day (approximately 1.5 million per year). Given the large amount of money spent by these departments on procurement of food, their adherence to a Good Food Purchasing Program will likely positively influence their vendors to adopt practices consistent with Good Food Purchasing Standards.

(Added by Ord. 134-20, File No. 200244, App. 8/21/2020, Eff. 9/21/2020; amended by Ord. 175-25, File No. 250753, App. 9/12/2025, Eff. 10/13/2025)

In the procurement of food for City hospitals operated by DPH (Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Honda Hospital) and jails operated by the Sheriff’s Department, the City shall strive to adhere to the vision and values of the Good Food Purchasing Standards, as stated in subsection 21D.1(h).

(Added by Ord. 134-20, File No. 200244, App. 8/21/2020, Eff. 9/21/2020; amended by Ord. 175-25, File No. 250753, App. 9/12/2025, Eff. 10/13/2025)

To implement Good Food Purchasing Standards, DPH shall seek the following:

(a) Local and Community Based-Economies: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 DPH Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, DPH will develop a Request for Proposals that reflects the Good Food Purchasing pillars, award a contract to a local produce vendor, and maintain sourcing of at least 15% of food from very large family-owned producers (as defined by United States Department of Agriculture standards) within 250 miles, source 5% of food from medium/small farms by January 2027, and increase sourcing from medium/small farms to 5-7% by January 2028, and to 10-15% by January 2032. DPH shall actively pursue extra points towards baseline goals by planning to purchase at least 1% cumulatively of food from vendors that are Socially Disadvantaged, Beginning, Limited Resource, Veteran, or Disabled Farmers/Ranchers by January 1, 2027.

(b) Environmental Sustainability: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 DPH Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, by January 1, 2026, DPH will purchase 100% of meat derived from animals raised without the routine use of medically important antimicrobial drugs for disease prevention purposes. DPH shall achieve a 4% carbon and water footprint reduction by January 1, 2028, and a 20% carbon and water footprint reduction by January 1, 2029. DPH shall continue other measures to maintain environmental sustainability, including review and revision of menus (by January 1, 2026), continuation of Meatless Mondays, and maintaining removal of disposable water bottles in facilities.

(c) Valued Workforce: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 DPH Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, by January 1, 2026, DPH will encourage all vendors to commit to full compliance with labor law and work to prevent labor law violations from occurring, for both Laguna Honda Hospital and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Starting in January 2027, DPH will share publicly the status and findings of its outreach to vendors regarding labor violations to increase transparency from vendors.

(d) Animal Welfare: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 DPH Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, DPH will evaluate its menus for opportunities to decrease meat use (by January 1, 2026), purchase 10% of total food purchases from animal welfare certified products (by January 1, 2028), and decrease animal product purchase volume by 15% and replace it with plant-based foods (by January 1, 2027). DPH will continue to adhere to patient dietary protocols if plant-based foods are not appropriate substitutes for a patient.

(e) Community Health and Nutrition: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 DPH Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, by January 1, 2026, DPH will offer free drinking water, conduct an analysis of products with regards to trans-fat and whole grains, and further refining nutrition goals specific to a safety net hospital setting.

(f) Additional actions to achieve the above goals include: examination of opportunities for joint procurement for the two hospitals; development of specifications for the department’s dairy and eggs contracts to comply with Good Food Purchasing Standards; development of specifications for the department’s meat contracts to comply with Good Food Purchasing Standards; and education of vendors on Good Food Purchasing Standards.

(Added by Ord. 134-20, File No. 200244, App. 8/21/2020, Eff. 9/21/2020; amended by Ord. 175-25, File No. 250753, App. 9/12/2025, Eff. 10/13/2025)

To implement Good Food Purchasing Standards, the Sheriff’s Department shall seek the following with respect to jails:

(a) Local and Community-Based Economies: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 Sheriff’s Department Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, by January 1, 2026, the Sheriff’s Department will increase its local food spending allocation from 20% to 40% on vendors who are large- or medium-scale operations, family- or cooperatively-owned, and within 250 miles of San Francisco (Good Food Purchasing Standards Levels 2 and 3), by January 1, 2027.

(b) Environmental Sustainability: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 Sheriff’s Department Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, by January 1, 2026, the Sheriff’s Department will spend at least 10% of the department’s total food expenditures on products grown without the use of pesticides and/or that have received one or more of the nationally-recognized certifications referenced in the Good Food Purchasing Standards Level 1, or reduce the carbon and water footprint of food purchases by at least 4% after January 1, 2027 (with the goal of doubling within two years), increase purchasing of products derived from animals raised without the routine use of medically important antimicrobial drugs for disease prevention purposes to 25% by January 1, 2028, and ensure each year ongoing that no seafood purchases are listed as “avoid” by Monterey Bay Seafood Watch Guide (or other similar environmental monitoring body whose standards may be substituted by the Purchaser).

(c) Valued Workforce: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 Sheriff’s Department Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, by January 1, 2026, the Sheriff’s Department will prioritize vendors with a social responsibility policy that prioritizes non-poverty wages for their employees, labor peace agreements, safe and healthy working conditions, prohibition of child labor, employment benefits, and policies to prevent sexual harassment/assault, a Good Food Purchasing policy, a worker education training program, or are certified by one or more nationally-recognized fair trade organizations, and work with vendors to purchase products for whom the grower, processor, and distributor meet the qualifying criteria. Wherever possible, in evaluation criteria or reference checks for vendors, the Sheriff’s Department shall encourage all vendors to commit to full compliance with labor and employment laws and work to prevent violations from occurring. Starting in January 2027, the Sheriff’s Department will share publicly the status and findings of its outreach to vendors regarding labor violations to increase transparency from vendors.

evaluation criteria or reference checks for vendors, the Sheriff’s Department shall encourage all vendors to commit to full compliance with labor and employment laws and work to prevent violations from occurring. Starting in January 2027, the Sheriff’s Department will share publicly the status and findings of its outreach to vendors regarding labor violations to increase transparency from vendors.

(d) Animal Welfare: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 Sheriff’s Department Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report, by January 1, 2026, the Sheriff’s Department will spend at least 5% of the department’s total food expenditures on products supplied by vendors who have received nationally-recognized organic and/or humane certifications (Level 1), and increase purchasing food items at higher levels of animal welfare certifications as recognized in the Good Food Purchasing Standards (Levels 2 and 3) by January 1, 2027, through replacing 35% of the total volume of animal products with plant-based foods and reaching 50% reduction relative to the baseline assessment by January 1, 2024 with plant-based foods.

(e) Community Health and Nutrition: To build from the baseline goals set forth in the 2019 Sheriff’s Department Good Food Purchasing Standard baseline report by January 1, 2026, the Sheriff’s Department will spend at least 51% of the department’s total food expenditures on Level 1 products, increasing the amount of whole or minimally processed foods by 5% from baseline year, and having fruit, vegetables, and whole grains account for at least 50% of the total food purchases.

(Added by Ord. 134-20, File No. 200244, App. 8/21/2020, Eff. 9/21/2020; amended by Ord. 175-25, File No. 250753, App. 9/12/2025, Eff. 10/13/2025)

(a) By January 1, 2026, and every two years thereafter, DPH and the Sheriff’s Department shall each submit a report to the Board of Supervisors that includes all updated assessments since the 2019 baseline assessment detailing their adherence to the five Good Food Purchasing Standards as stated in subsection 21D.1(h). This report shall also include a summary of the status of DPH’s and the Sheriff’s Department’s outreach to vendors to encourage compliance with labor laws.

(Added by Ord. 134-20, File No. 200244, App. 8/21/2020, Eff. 9/21/2020; amended by Ord. 175-25, File No. 250753, App. 9/12/2025, Eff. 10/13/2025)

Sections 21D.3, 21D.4, and 21D.5 shall become inoperative on December 31, 2035. After that date, the City Attorney is authorized to cause Sections 21D.3, 21D.4, and 21D.5 to be removed from the Administrative Code.

(Added by Ord. 134-20, File No. 200244, App. 8/21/2020, Eff. 9/21/2020; amended by Ord. 175-25, File No. 250753, App. 9/12/2025, Eff. 10/13/2025)