Measuring the social impact of City-region food system initiatives (CRFSIs): A systematic review of indicators and metrics

City-region food system initiatives (CRFSIs) are crucial for sustainable urban development, as they bridge the gap between local producers and consumers, adapt and restructure city-regions, and improve urban food security. Although in political and scientific discourses, CRFSIs are generally associated with positive effects across all sustainability dimensions, research has begun to measure their actual impact. While many studies address their environmental and economic impacts, it is widely argued that social impacts are ‘fuzzier’ and more difficult to measure. This paper challenges the notion that social impacts are immeasurable by presenting social indicators and metrics in four social dimensions (education, health, community development and economy). For this purpose, a systematic literature review covering the period 2010–2020 was conducted via the PRISMA method. The analysis of n = 234 papers confirmed that social impacts are measurable through various indicators, including quantitative metrics (e.g., kg, €) and qualitative measures (e.g., Likert scales). Health-related indicators were present in 47 % of all analyzed papers. Across the 597 identified indicators, 249 indicators were health-related, followed by indicators related to education (151), economic aspects (105), and community development (92). This review highlights the strong correlations between these different social impact dimensions. It serves as a valuable resource for quantifying social impacts and enabling researchers to assess social sustainability of CRFSIs in the future.