Local Food EPI+ tool

Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition

Benchmarking local government actions for creating healthy, equitable and environmentally sustainable food systems.

We developed the Local Food-EPI+ tool, in conjunction with local government practitioners, policy makers and academic experts, as part of the international INFORMAS network (active in 65+ countries). The tool is designed for local governments to self-assess their performance against recommended policies and prioritise areas for policy action.

Challenge

Local governments have an important role to play in creating healthy, equitable and environmentally sustainable food systems. There are a wide range of evidence-based actions that local governments can take to improve local food systems and to support their communities to have healthy and environmentally sustainable diets. Potential actions for local government include policies in areas such land-use management, food provision and procurement, community engagement, marketing to children, and food waste. However, local governments in Australia vary widely in the extent to which evidence-based policies have been implemented. This is because there is often limited understanding of the most effective and equitable policy options. Many local governments also face challenges in getting recommended policies adopted, including a lack of budget and resources, difficulties in obtaining support for change from senior leaders, and perceived lack of power to make change.

Solution

To assist local governments in implementing actions to improve the healthiness, equity and environmental sustainability of food systems, we developed a tool and process to benchmark and prioritise local government actions.

Impact

The tool we developed is contributing to efforts to create healthy, equitable and environmentally sustainable food systems in Australia. It has helped to build understanding of best practice for improving food systems at the local level. It has also increased the capacity of local governments to promote community health and wellbeing and improve environmental sustainability in the short- and long-term by identifying and prioritising food policy actions. The tool has also helped local governments set healthy eating and environmental sustainability priorities in their Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans. Broad application of the tool in Australia and internationally will identify and promote leading practices, monitor policy progress, further build capacity and collaborations, and strengthen efforts to increase accountability for change.

Partners

VicHealth

The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre

LaTrobe University

Cardinia Shire Council

Central Goldfields Shire Council

City of Ballarat

City of Greater Bendigo

Greater Shepparton City Council

Macedon Ranges Shire Council

Mornington Peninsula Shire Council

Mount Alexander Shire Council

Yarra Ranges Council

Results

The Local Food-EPI+ tool consists of 61 indicators across 10 food policy domains. These domains (weighted on relative importance) are:

  • leadership
  • governance
  • funding and resources
  • monitoring and intelligence
  • food production and supply chain
  • food promotion
  • food provision and retail in public facilities and spaces
  • supermarkets and food sources in the community
  • food waste reuse, redistribution and reduction
  • support for communities.

The process we developed for implementing the tool is to:

  1. work with multiple teams within a local government area to understand their policies and actions in each domain
  2. compare their actions to good practice standards to develop a scorecard of performance
  3. identify and prioritise recommended actions for each local government area based on the scorecards.

The co-design process is designed to increase knowledge and understanding of local implementation and international best practice and help facilitate meaningful action.

We first implemented the tool in one local government area (City of Greater Bendigo) in Victoria, Australia. This pilot study demonstrated that the assessment process was feasible and likely to be helpful in guiding policy implementation. We subsequently worked with 8 other local councils in Victoria (Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, Greater Shepparton City Council, City of Ballarat, Yarra Ranges Council, Central Goldfields Shire Council, Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Mount Alexander Shire Council and Cardinia Shire Council) to implement the tool and process. The findings showed that all local governments in Victoria are taking some steps to improve their food systems, but they vary widely in the actions they are taking and in their priorities. There are tremendous opportunities for local governments to take further meaningful actions in this area.

Team members

Oriana Ruffini
Professor Gary Sacks
Chanel Relf, City of Greater Bendigo
The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre
VicHealth