Methods for Assessing Food Environments and Institutional Capacity to Improve Healthy Food Procurement in Food Services: Case Example from the County of Los Angeles

Introduction: In 2011, the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors adopted a motion requiring all County departments that purchase, distribute and/or sell food to consult with the Department of Public Health (DPH) prior to releasing any Requests for Proposals (RFP) for food and vending contracts. The goal of the motion is to ensure inclusion of dietary requirements that promote healthy nutrition through the contracting process. As the coordinating agency for implementing this Board motion, DPH developed and conducted an organizational food environment and capacity assessment which helped identify departmental food and vending service operations, capacity and readiness to respond to proposed changes in the food procurement process.

Approach: Using a standardized, but streamlined protocol adapted from validated assessment tools in the literature, 12 key informant interviews and accompanying reviews of food service contracts were conducted during 2012.

Results: The institutional assessments identified and characterized the departments that purchase, distribute and/or sell food; the types of food settings; contracting processes inherent in each of these departments; nutrition standards that may already exist; and other considerations that affect institutional capacity to implement healthy food procurement. Findings were applied to the development and refinement of DPH protocols that helped engage, inform and provide technical assistance to departments undertaking the RFP to select food and vending service vendors during 2011-2013.

Discussion: The assessment methods used to guide the implementation of the County motion represent a model of practice that other communities may adapt to advance similar healthy food procurement efforts in other jurisdictions.