Food Policy Council Partnerships: Catalysts for Food System Policy Change

Apr 20, 2015

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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) recently explored ways in which partnerships formed between Food Policy Councils and stakeholders impact food system policy change. Their study, which was the first of its kind to describe such relationships, and to examine the pathways whereby partnerships influence FPC policy efforts, was published in PLOS One today.

As part of a larger study examining Food Policy Council (PFC) policy efforts, researchers at the CLF interviewed six policy experts, and leaders from 12 Food Policy Councils working on a range of policy activities such as developing and lobbying for policy proposals, participating in the regulatory process, and implementing policies at regional, state, and local levels.  They found that Food Policy Councils formed strategic partnerships with stakeholders from government, businesses, and the education sector.

“Previous research recognizes the significance of partnerships to FPCs, yet little was known about the mechanisms by which partnerships may impact FPCs’ policy engagement,” says Megan Clayton, MPH, PhD, a CLF-Lerner Fellow and lead author of the report. “We found that partnerships were perceived by participants to impact FPC policy work by increasing the visibility and credibility of FPCs, focusing their policy agenda, connecting FPCs to key policy inputs, and obtaining stakeholder buy-in for policy initiatives.”

“The Role of Partnerships in U.S. Food Policy Council Policy Activities,” was written by Megan L. Clayton, Shannon Frattaroli, Anne Palmer and Keshia M. Pollack.

Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future media contact: Natalie Wood-Wright at 443-287-2771 or nwoodwr1@jhu.edu.