How and why researchers and advocates should engage with state and local food policymaking

Abstract

Unhealthy diets contribute to one in every five deaths in the United States, yet federal policy action to improve dietary quality has been limited. We argue that researchers and advocates should engage in state and local food policymaking, which offers an important complementary avenue for creating healthier food environments and improving diet quality. We outline key questions researchers can address to inform local and state policymaking and provide practical tips on how they can engage with the policy process. Finally, we present a case study of researcher engagement with the New York City Sweet Truth Act policy process. Federal policy action to improve the healthiness of food environments in the United States has been limited. This Perspective calls for the involvement of researchers and advocates in food policymaking at the state and local levels and shows how this can be achieved at each stage of the policy process.