Food Policy Councils and Local Governments: Creating Effective Collaboration for Food Systems Change

Drawing data from comparative case studies of 10 California food policy councils (FPCs), this paper describes the nature of the relationships between local governments and FPCs and examines how these relationships support policy-related activities and food systems change. We focus our comparisons on distinct organizational structures, resource flows, and policy activities. All but one of the 10 councils is organized as a multisector community collaborative, rather than as an independent nonprofit organization or a government advisory body. Each includes local government personnel as members and most depend on government resources for their operations, including meeting a Clare Gupta, Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis; 1 Shields Avenue; Davis, CA 95616 USA; +1-650-766-7610; cgupta@ucdavis.edu b * Corresponding author: Dave Campbell, Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis; 1 Shields Avenue; Davis, CA 95616 USA; +1-530-752-5451; dave.c.campbell@ucdavis.edu c Kate Munden-Dixon, Geography Graduate Group, University of California, Davis; 1 Shields Avenue; Davis, CA 95616 USA; +1-912-713-5217; kmundendixon@ucdavis.edu d Jennifer Sowerwine, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley; 130 Mulford Hall #3114; Berkeley, CA 94720-3114 USA; +1-510-664-7042, jsowerwi@berkeley.edu e Shosha Capps, UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 USA; +1-530-752-5085;