County of San Diego (County) food operations purchase approximately $27 million in food and beverages to serve approximately eight million meals to vulnerable populations. The County recognized the opportunity to positively impact populations served in addition to supporting a robust sustainable, equitable, and local food system by implementing a food sourcing program and policy using American Rescue Plan Act funding that focused on food sourcing values such as local sourcing, sustainability, elevated workforce, equity, and nutrition.

Approach

Leveraging additional funding—(CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH)—the County convened a committee, comprised of representatives from each County food program, to guide the co-creation of a framework for the program and policy. Baseline assessments were conducted for nine food programs using 2022 food and beverage purchasing data. Each food program engaged in developing action plans tailored to their unique operations.

Results

After 18 months of program implementation and collaborative development of a draft policy with the committee, and engagement of County leadership, the Board of Supervisors (Board) unanimously voted to adopt the policy on December 5, 2023.

Discussion

The County’s approach identified key elements to ensure success of policy adoption: utilizing ARPA funding to support populations impacted by COVID-19, leveraging additional funding to increase capacity for program delivery, and implementing the program prior to returning to the Board with a policy to build food service operations buy-in and ensure feasibility. These approaches contributed to a unanimous vote of approval and adoption by the Board.