Theoretical dreams and funding realities: External experts' critiques of an evaluation framework for a FSNE-funded large-scale social marketing nutrition program

Recently, a considerable amount of policy debate has transpired with the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (FSNE) and with national public health leaders. FSNE, which funds about 20 state social marketing nutrition networks, has been re-engineered so that activities in the assessment, media, policy, systems, and environmental change domains are now largely disallowed, in contrast with recommendations made by major foundations, CDC and the Institute of Medicine. What does this mean for Networks that need to conduct program planning and evaluation in the crux of this controversy? What components and data are truly important for programs that target individuals, but recognize the environmental context in which behavior occurs? The California Nutrition Network, the nation's largest FSNE program, received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct an expert critique of its evaluation framework and answer these questions. The evaluation framework is based on the social-ecological model overlaid with social marketing tools (e.g., sales promotions at the organizational level). Interviews followed by small group discussions were conducted with over 15 experts to explore assets and gaps at each level of the SEM, critique the theoretical foundation, and suggest how to link data across levels. A summary of the results was circulated among experts for review. Results will compare and contrast the expert recommendations, identifying areas where recommendations can be applied and where recommendations exceed FSNE allowability. Recommendations based on study findings for large-scale obesity prevention and nutrition promotion programs will be provided.