The Food Policy Audit: A New Tool for Community Food System Planning

Abstract

The Food Policy Audit was developed in response to the growing need for tools to assist in the food planning process and was piloted in a graduate urban and environmental planning course at the University of Virginia. The audit proceeded in two phases: phase one consisted of 113 yes-or-no research questions regarding the existence of food-based policy relating to public health, economic development, environmental impacts, social equity, and land conservation; phase two confirmed the validity of phase one's results through a series of stakeholder meetings. The meetings also provided insight into the success of policies and initiatives currently in place, community attitudes and perceptions, and community priorities for moving forward. The Food Policy Audit process proved educationally beneficial to both students and community members, and provided a policy-based tool for communities interested in shaping a more sustainable and resilient food system. Keywords audit, food policy, food system curriculum, food system planning, local food, local food policy, planning tool, sustainable food system, planning policy The Food Policy Audit: Development and Trial Run To enhance the array of twenty-first century community planning tools, such as GIS mapping, modeling, and data analysis, University of Virginia faculty developed a Food Policy Audit in the fall of 2009, and conducted a pilot audit of a five-county region of central Virginia with a graduate planning class in the spring of 2010. The audit serves several functions: raising community awareness and under-a Jennifer O'Brien is an Urban and Environmental Planning graduate student at the University of Virginia.