Understanding Policy Enactment The New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative

Background: Healthy-food financing initiatives have been endorsed as a way to improve food access, but relatively little research exists on understanding the formulation of such policies. Purpose: This paper investigates the development of the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative (FFRI) to highlight factors that enabled and impeded its enactment. Methods: In 2010 and 2011, semistructured interviews were conducted with 22 key informants with firsthand experience of this case, including representatives from the private sector, nonprofit organizations, and government. A participant-observer approach was used to synthesize these observations with archived written materials and the authors' own observations. Results: Historical disparities in food access in New Orleans were exacerbated by Hurricane Katrina, which also generated neighborhood activism and a pressing need to rebuild the city. A Food Policy Advisory Committee (FPAC) was formed from diverse groups. This paper describes the evolution of FPAC, its deliberations and report to the City Council, and actions to promote a financing initiative, as well as delays encountered in the process. Conclusions: Enactment of the FFRI was facilitated by a window of opportunity that opened in the storm's aftermath, broad-based stakeholder buy-in, the existence of political champions, and policy-relevant information that was simple and convincing. Impediments to success included the constant turnover of city staff, a skeptical state bureaucracy, and the many competing priorities in New Orleans. This study highlights the importance of having a clear policy objective to address a well-defined and illustrated problem, key advocates in diverse organizations, and broad-based support for its implementation. (Am J Prev Med 2012;43(3S2):S116-S122) (c) 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine