Abstract
Food Policy Councils (FPC) help to identify and address the priorities of local, state, and regional food systems with the goal of improving food systems through policy. There is limited research describing FPCs’ strategies for accomplishing this goal. As part of a larger study examining FPC policy efforts, this paper investigates the role of partnerships in food systems policy change. We conducted interviews with representatives from 12 purposefully selected FPCs in the United States and 6 policy experts identified by the selected FPC representatives to document and describe their policy work. One theme that emerged from those interviews was the role of partners. Interviewees described a range of partners (e.g., stakeholders from government, business, and education) and credited FPC partnerships with advancing their policy goals by increasing the visibility and credibility of FPCs, focusing their policy agenda, connecting FPCs to key policy inputs (e.g., local food community knowledge and priorities), and obtaining stakeholder buy-in for policy initiatives. Partnerships were also described as barriers to policy progress when partners were less engaged or had either disproportionate or little influence in a given food sector. Despite these challenges, partnerships were found to be valuable for FPCs efforts to effectively engage in the food policy arena.
Highlights
Verify from Part 1 Survey: Food Policy Councils (FPC) name; time in existence How did the FPC start? What is your role in the FPC? Do you have staff? What type of organization is your FPC? Tell me about the membership of your FPC
Can you describe when and how you were first introduced to the food policy council work? Can you describe your role on the food policy council? Why does this work matter to you? What is your biggest achievement on the council? What is your biggest policy achievement? What policies have you found challenging? When we interviewed [FPC representative], he/she told us about the work you did together on [specific policy initiative]
Can you describe that initiative? Why did you get involved in this specific initiative? What advice would you give to an FPC Director about how to engage with policymakers? If you were talking to a group of legislators, would you tell them to include food policy in their agenda? Why or why not? Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work? doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0122870.t001
Summary
We conducted a two-part study of FPCs and their policy-related activities. Part 1 included an online survey of U.S FPCs to describe council policy engagement: the results are published in a separate manuscript [6]. Part 2 was a multiple case study of FPCs identified as engaged in policy work through the online survey. Data collection for the multiple case study involved indepth interviews with representatives from the selected FPCs, and documents about the selected FPCs available from their websites [6]. To describe FPCs, we used the definition provided by Harper et al.: entities that, “serve as forums for discussion of food issues; foster coordination among sectors in the food system; participate in policy processes; and launch or support programs and services that address local needs” [1]. Harper’s definition was chosen based on guidance from content expert advisors on this project
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