The development of Territorial Food Strategies, like the French “Projets Alimentaires Territoriaux”, implies proposing new tools to support local decision-making. The FRUGAL set of indicators has been specifically developed for this purpose: to provide an expertise capacity to local actors and a knowledge base to understand their local food system and to develop and revise their food strategy. In this paper, we present the theoretical elements that made it possible to design and structure this set of indicators; the method for developing these indicators; and how this tool can be used by urban participants wishing to use it for a local diagnosis.

The development of Territorial Food Strategies, like the French “Projets Alimentaires Territoriaux”, implies proposing new tools to support local decision-making. The FRUGAL set of indicators has been specifically developed for this purpose: to provide an expertise capacity to local actors and a knowledge base to understand their local food system and to develop and revise their food strategy. In this paper, we present the theoretical elements that made it possible to design and structure this set of indicators; the method for developing these indicators; and how this tool can be used by urban participants wishing to use it for a local diagnosis.