Hospitals and food policy councils
Takeaways:
- A food policy council is a group of stakeholders from across the food system that addresses food-related needs within a designated region. Food policy councils include a diversity of sectors and industries as well as public, private, and nonprofit organizations. Their primary goals align closely with those of health care institutions:
- Food insecurity
- Healthy food access
- Regional economic development
- Environmental sustainability
- Food policy councils provide a large and ready-made network of organizations and stakeholders working to create healthier communities for hospitals to engage with.
- Food policy councils can often provide data and expertise that can help inform the community health needs assessment (CHNA) process and maximize data collection resources.
- Hospitals can increase their investments’ and programs’ impacts by leveraging a council’s expertise and membership. Hospitals can engage in large-scale policy and advocacy efforts by supporting a council’s efforts.
This issue brief provides an introduction and overview of food policy councils and information on how these coalitions can provide data and expertise to inform hospitals’ CHNA and/or implementation strategy. This brief includes recommendations for ways to engage FPCs and examples of hospitals currently supporting council work in their region. Find out if there is a food policy council near you by visiting Food Policy Network.
A food policy council (FPC) is a group of stakeholders from across the food system that includes a diversity of sectors and industries as well as public, private, and nonprofit organizations. The work of these councils spans the food system, but their primary goals align closely with those that health care institutions also care about deeply: addressing food insecurity, healthy food access, regional economic development, and environmental sustainability, among others.
Food policy councils are a useful entry point for hospitals to effectively engage with a large number of stakeholders and potential partners. Food policy councils provide enormous value that can help move the work of community benefit initiatives forward. Some councils collect primary data, most have a strong network of stakeholders working to improve health, and many engage community members in their work.
Food policy councils can also leverage the collective power of their members to affect change at a larger scale. This is especially critical since many food policy councils work on legislative and institutional policy change that can improve community health indicators.
For example, food policy advocates have lobbied for legislation to support healthier food in corner stores or to levy taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages. Some coalitions have promoted healthier vending policies in schools, parks, and other public campuses. Others have strengthened land use policies to support community gardens and preserve farmland. Whether it’s working on collaborative projects, undertaking research, or advocating to change policy, FPCs can be an effective way for health care to engage at a systems level to support — or lead — change-making to create healthy, livable, and hunger-free communities.
Engaging diverse stakeholders
Typically, food policy councils include individuals or organizations that represent one of the five food systems sectors: production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste recycling. In a given FPC, these stakeholders can, and often do, include farmers, small businesses, government agencies, food banks, hospitals, community leaders, and others.
The sheer size and scale of the food system means that the work of advancing food policy is often siloed by sector, industry, or agency. It may be difficult for a hospital administrator or community benefit director to connect with each of the organizations doing food work in their community. Conversely, hospitals’ complex administrations and large bureaucracies can make it difficult for community food organizations with limited resources to access and engage with hospitals. Food policy councils offer a much-needed forum for stakeholders to engage with local or regional food issues and for them to connect, collaborate, and share information with the goal of advancing programs and changing policy.
Different food policy council formations
Food policy councils appear in different forms and scales across the country. Some regions have a “coalition” or a “task force” that have different structures and titles, but essentially carry out the same work as a FPC and for all intents and purposes offer the same benefits and opportunities for hospital engagement.
Some may operate at a city or municipal level, while others engage in regional or statewide work. California, for example, has a statewide food policy council that represents 29 member organizations from across the state. California, however, is also home to large, robust city-level councils such as Oakland’s Food Policy Council and the Los Angeles Food Policy Council that make for strong city partners.
Many food policy councils are formed through local legislation or executive order that enacts the council and provides a formal structure (such as governing rules and requirements for representation). Having a policy or legal statute helps provide increased legitimacy, and occasionally, increased access to decision makers for a council.
Support from health care can be critical to creating community momentum to initiate food policy council formation. In response to high obesity rates, for example, CoxHealth systems provided seed funding for the Ozarks Regional Food Council in Missouri. Food policy council success highly depends on strong leadership as well as access to resources and support from city, state, and local government. Without active, ongoing member engagement and financial and structural support, food policy councils will struggle to succeed and may dissolve.
Data and expertise
Food policy councils often develop their own research or community food assessments. These documents often contain primary data (collected by the FPC or by community partners) to help identify gaps in the food system and help shape program, policy, and development goals for the council.
Food policy council research can be a valuable resource for hospital community health needs assessments (CHNAs) by providing information on diet-related health needs and community food environments (especially in vulnerable communities) as well as community strengths and resources. It may also point hospitals in the direction of successful interventions that they can adopt in their community benefit implementation strategies.
Local Action on food policy in Massachusetts
In 2015, the Massachusetts Food Policy Council developed a statewide, “Local Action Food Plan,” a comprehensive, 160-page document that involved over 1,500 participants and details ambitious goals to advance food policy in the state. The plan lists specific goals and opportunities to engage “health care providers, institutions, and insurers in fostering access to healthy food.” The information can be readily incorporated into a community health needs assessment. These recommendations are useful to consider including in implementation strategies, and data can be used to track the outcomes of interventions.
Food policy council expertise can help hospitals gain a better understanding of their communities’ needs and challenges. One way for hospitals to leverage a FPC’s network and expertise is to participate in the FPC itself or join a working group of the FPC that fits the hospital or health system’s focus areas. If, for example, a FPC does not work to address hospital priority issues, serving on a FPC committee is a way for a hospital to guide the work of a FPC to support health-related food issues. It is also useful to include a FPC member on the hospital’s CHNA steering committee or include FPC members among CHNA key informant interviews.
Recommended practices
Collaboration with food policy councils provides tangible benefits that can improve a hospital's CHNA and implementation strategy. Hospitals can also provide meaningful support for FPC initiatives, through funding or in-kind assistance, and have a greater impact than they would have through independent activities.
As a platform to foster discussion about — and solutions to — some of the food systems’ most pressing challenges, food policy councils generate initiatives that can be some of the most innovative work happening on the ground. These projects, which seek to develop a more equitable, sustainable, and healthier food system, can be a way for hospitals to identify and support larger, impactful work that is responsive to community needs and born out of collaborative efforts.
The following are opportunities for hospitals to get involved with FPCs in ways that advance hospital community health objectives.
UMass Memorial Medical Center, Mass. (Include a food policy council in CHNA process)
UMass Memorial Medical Center, Fallon Health
Worcester, Mass.
UMass and the Public Health Department participated in a collaborative CHNA and Community Health Improvement Plan
Include a food policy council in your community health needs assessment process. This can include asking council members to serve on the CHNA steering committee, participate in stakeholder interviews, assist in determining priorities, or share data.
Along with UMass and Fallon Health, Worcester’s Food and Active Living Council are on the CHNA Advisory Committee. UMass also has a representative on the council.
The advisory committee provided key input on data collection tools and methods, identified stakeholders to engage in the process, and determined the scope of the assessment through bimonthly meetings and online participation. Healthy food access was chosen as one of six priority areas for the 2015 CHNA.
Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, Conn. (Include a food policy council in CHNA process)
Lawrence and Memorial Hospital
New London, Conn.
Include a food policy council in your community health needs assessment process. This can include asking council members to serve on the CHNA steering committee, participate in stakeholder interviews, assist in determining priorities, or share data.
For their 2016 CHNA, Lawrence and Memorial Hospital (New London, CT) hosted a work group to solicit input (via surveys and focus groups) on priority areas. The New London County Food Policy Council (NLCFPC) was included as a stakeholder in the workgroup.
Participation from the NLCFPC ensured that nutrition and food insecurity were included in discussions of community health. “Healthy lifestyles,” emerged as a 2016 priority area for Lawrence and Memorial Hospital. Their 2016 implementation plan lists, “increas[ing] healthy food consumption and physical activity,” as a goal to address this priority area.
Hidalgo Medical Services, N.M. (Provide support for your food policy council to conduct food assessments)
Hidalgo Medical Services
Silver City, N.M.
Provide support for your food policy council to conduct food assessments. This can include technical assistance with developing surveys, staff time to administer surveys, financial support for the assessment project, or sharing hospital data. The findings can be included in the hospital’s community health needs assessment.
Hidalgo Medical Services provided office space, administrative support, and staff time through their Center for Health Innovation to support the development of the 2015 Southwest New Mexico Food Policy Council’s Health Impact Assessment.
The Health Impact Assessment examined the challenges facing the “emergency” food assistance system in New Mexico and provided recommendations for investments in local food pantries’ capacity to access and distribute more nutritious food to vulnerable populations.
Lehigh Valley Health Network, Penn. (Provide support for your food policy council to conduct food assessments)
Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN)
Allentown, Penn.
IProvide support for your food policy council to conduct food assessments. This can include technical assistance with developing surveys, staff time to administer surveys, financial support for the assessment project, or sharing hospital data. The findings can be included in the hospital’s community health needs assessment.
Lehigh Valley Health Network helped the Lehigh Valley Food Policy Council develop a food system map and online hub. The map uses the Community Commons tool to map food assets (food pantries, soup kitchens, community gardens) in the region. LVHN pays mapping fees, acts as the account administrator, and provides technical assistance. The maps are overlaid with public health and demographic data and available to the public for free. The Council also has its own Community Commons “hub” under development, which will function as a website and communication tool.
Once completed, the Lehigh Valley Food Policy Council Food System Map and Hub will provide a community-facing source for information (similar to a website homepage). The food mapping completed by the food policy council has been used by the local Environmental Protection Agency and United Way as a way to track historical data trends. The council also hopes the tool will spark further research into food issues and community needs in the area.
Kaiser Permanente, Va. (Provide support for your food policy council to conduct food assessments)
Kaiser Permanente
Fairfax, Va.
Provide support for your food policy council to conduct food assessments. This can include technical assistance with developing surveys, staff time to administer surveys, financial support for the assessment project, or sharing hospital data. The findings can be included in the hospital’s community health needs assessment.
Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic region provided a $15,000 community benefit grant to the Partnership for a Healthier Fairfax (a county public health initiative) to conduct their 2015 Community Food Assessment. Kaiser community benefit staff also participate on council steering committees.
The Kaiser grant enabled the hiring of staff to conduct the assessment as well as provide support to create a food policy council (one of the key recommendations of the assessment). The Fairfax Food Policy Council was formed in 2015 response to the assessment.
UMass Memorial Medical Center, Mass. (Support the legislative policy initiatives of food policy councils)
UMass Memorial Medical Center
Worcester, Mass.
Support the legislative policy initiatives of food policy councils by signing letters of support for legislation, providing testimony at hearings, and providing staff time to support advocacy efforts. Hospitals, as anchor institutions and large employers, hold significant political capital with policymakers and their support can lend important credibility to policy efforts.
UMass Memorial Medical Center is an active member of the Worcester’s Food and Active Living Council and supports the legislative agenda of the council.
In Worcester’s 2016 community health improvement plan, the council was responsible for highlighting the importance of advocacy for Fight for $15, a minimum wage policy presently in the Massachusetts State Legislature. The council, with the support of UMass, is also working to pass local urban agriculture ordinances.
Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, La. (Support the legislative policy initiatives of food policy councils)
Our Lady of the Lake Hospital’s
East Baton Rouge, La.
Support the legislative policy initiatives of food policy councils by signing letters of support for legislation, providing testimony at hearings, and providing staff time to support advocacy efforts. Hospitals, as anchor institutions and large employers, hold significant political capital with policymakers and their support can lend important credibility to policy efforts.
Our Lady of the Lake Hospital’s Implementation Plan includes a strategy to “implement the recommendations of the Food Access Policy Commission.” Our Lady of the Lake has provided support for one of the commission's efforts to expand the city’s transit system to create a “grocery express” bus service with express routes between food desert neighborhoods and grocery stores.
As a result of Our Lady of the Lake’s support for the bus expansion, the city of East Baton Rouge plans to assess bus line patterns and usage to determine the feasibility of a grocery express line.
St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital, Mich. (Support the legislative policy initiatives of food policy councils)
St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Support the legislative policy initiatives of food policy councils by signing letters of support for legislation, providing testimony at hearings, and providing staff time to support advocacy efforts. Hospitals, as anchor institutions and large employers, hold significant political capital with policymakers and their support can lend important credibility to policy efforts.
St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital has a seat on the Washtenaw Food Policy Council, which has joined other local councils to successfully advocate for an expansion of state funding for the 10 Cents a Meal for School Kids & Farms program. This pilot program provides schools with up to 10 cents per meal in match funding to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
The 10 Cents a Meal for School Kids & Farms program for the 2016-17 school year impacted 48,000 students in 16 school districts, providing them with 49 different Michigan-grown foods grown by 86 farms
Kaiser Permanente, Md. (Support other initiatives with funding or in-kind support)
Kaiser Permanente
Baltimore, Md.
Support other initiatives, projects, or capacity building for food policy councils with funding or in-kind support, such as providing meeting space, assisting with technology or communications, or providing grants.
As part of its mid-Atlantic region implementation strategy to promote healthy eating, Kaiser Permanente provided $45,000 to the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative to develop smartphone technology for the Double Dollar incentive program and to increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payment acceptance at farmers markets.
As a result of the Kaiser grant, SNAP sales in Baltimore increased 11 percent and Double Dollar registration increased 59 percent.
Mount Auburn Hospital, Mass. (Support other initiatives with funding or in-kind support)
Mount Auburn Hospital
Cambridge, Mass.
Support other initiatives, projects, or capacity building for food policy councils with funding or in-kind support, such as providing meeting space, assisting with technology or communications, or providing grants.
Mount Auburn Hospital provided funding for the Cambridge Food and Fitness Policy Council from 2011-2014.
Funding from Mount Auburn enabled the Cambridge Food and Fitness Policy Council to develop a Cambridge-specific food resource guide that helps connect food insecure residents with local food resources.
Kaiser Permanente, Calif. (Support the legislative policy initiatives of food policy councils)
Kaiser Permanente
Oakland, Calif.
Support other initiatives, projects, or capacity building for food policy councils with funding or in-kind support, such as providing meeting space, assisting with technology or communications, or providing grants.
Kaiser Permanente provided $600,000 of funding to develop ProCureWorks, a purchasing initiative of schools and hospitals to increase institutional purchasing and availability of healthy and regionally-grown foods in Northern California.
ProCureWorks has grown to a coalition of 8 health systems representing 55 hospitals, and 5 school districts representing 560 schools leveraging their collective purchasing power to create stronger food systems in California.
Bridgeport Hospital, Conn. (Provide support for community benefit staff to serve on a food policy council)
Bridgeport Hospital
Bridgeport, Conn.
Provide support for community benefit staff to serve on a food policy council as members or on committees.
Bridgeport Hospital community benefit staff sit on the Bridgeport Food Policy Council and were involved in the food policy council’s 2015 food action plan.
As a result of the involvement of community benefit staff on the food policy council, continued support for the Bridgeport FPC’s healthy food initiatives is listed as a strategy in the hospital’s 2016 implementation strategy under the goal of “increas[ing] access to and availability of affordable healthy food and beverage choices in the community.”
Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, Conn. (Support efforts to develop a food policy council)
Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and Backus Hospital
New London, Conn.
If there is no food policy council in your region, support efforts to develop a council by convening stakeholders and supporting planning and lobbying efforts to create a council.
Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and Backus Hospital both identified healthy food access as a priority health need in community health needs assessment conducted in 2010 and supported the creation of the New London County Food Policy Council (NLFPC).
Today, the NLCFPC continues its work to improve the region’s food system. The council has so far completed a community food assessment and food hub feasibility study.
How to connect with a local food policy council
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future's Food Policy Networks project has tools and resources for food policy councils, including a database with over 1,000 resources, a directory of FPCs, and a listserv for people working on state and local food policy. To locate a food policy council in your area, check out the FPC directory.
Learn more
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A research paper presented at the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development looked at the support of health care institutions for healthy food initiatives. The report includes a useful list of hospital efforts to engage food policy councils.
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Public Health Institute’s Making Food Systems Part of Your Community Health Needs Assessment: Practical Guidance from the Tackling Hunger provides recommendations and examples of including FPCs in the community health needs assessment process.
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The Public Health Law Center compiled resources for policy and interventions that an FPC, with hospital support, could address such as sugary-beverage policy, food bank support, and food insecurity interventions.
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Harvard Law School’s Food and Law Policy Clinic developed, Good Food, Good Laws: Putting Local Food Policy to Work for Our Communities 2nd ed, a toolkit (updated in 2017) for local policy advocacy efforts. It provides background information on food systems as well as specific policy recommendations for strengthening land use and urban agriculture policy to support food production.
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The Healthy Food Access portal is a resources-rich database for food advocates and stakeholders. The portal provides resources for policy advocacy and is a great way to connect with other stakeholders in your region or focus area.