Development of a Food Security Indicator Framework in British Columbia

Presentation Abstract Food security is complex in both content and governance, making it difficult to measure and monitor. In 2016, the Population and Public Health Program of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Provincial Health Services Authority, sought to identify or construct an evidence-based conceptual framework to guide the systematic selection of food security indicators for British Columbia (BC), Canada. A systemized scan of the literature found no existing conceptual frameworks specific to food security indicators appropriate to the Global North. The most relevant indicator frameworks for food security in the literature were environmental health indicator frameworks. These formed the foundation for the conceptual framework for food security indicators in BC. The framework is a matrix that combines an adaptation of the environmental health casual network (i.e., determinants–current state–impact–response) with food security elements (i.e., (i) individual and household food insecurity; (ii) food systems, and (iii) capacity). Use of this framework can enable program planners and policy-makers to be clear about where and how they are attempting to assess, influence, and monitor food security. It also illustrates interconnectedness between indicators. The creation of this framework has laid the foundation for the development of a set of indicators for BC