Local Food EPI+ tool
Global Centre for Preventive Health and NutritionBenchmarking 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.
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:
- work with multiple teams within a local government area to understand their policies and actions in each domain
- compare their actions to good practice standards to develop a scorecard of performance
- 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