Food policy: frameworks, implementation, and impacts

Food Policy

What are the forces that influence and shape policy and consider whether this influence is beneficial and/or detrimental to the policy development process and/or policy outcomes? Some of the forces that influence and shape policy are values, assumptions and ideologies (Finders University, 2010; 28). Policymakers, like everyone else, possess beliefs that are both personal and professional; the difference is that their decisions go on to affect a number of citizens.

Values are the basic way that people understand the world in which we live and they guide the decisions that an individual makes. This means that the people who are making policies will consider and reflect on their own values when making decisions that will affect everyone. Our values determine many things because our ethics and morality are fundamentally why we choose to do what we do. An individual's standard of ethics and morality affects judgments that are made and, in terms of policymakers' standards of ethics and morality, their judgments affect many, so one has to hope that policymakers are able to make decisions that they believe will positively affect the common good of all people.

Some of the other influences that shape policies are knowledge, evidence and policy agenda. Policy-making is always influenced not only by values and standards of morality but by "constraints of economic, social, geographical and historical conditions" (Finders University, 2010; 29). It is up to policymakers to considers all of those conditions and then make a judgment about what their reactions to those conditions will be (2010; 29).

Knowledge is especially important when it comes to food policies as there are many "problems" that come up in relation to "food and health policy agenda based on scientific evidence" (Finders University, 2010; 29). What the evidence is may label some issues as a "problem," so it is important that policymakers are interested in what is being called knowledge (29).

Identify and analyze the role/s of various key stakeholders in policy development, implementation and evaluation. The roles of key stakeholders in policy development, implementation and evaluation all revolve around their own objectives. The "actors" in policymaking can be divided into five distinct categories: elected officials, appointed officials, interest groups, research organizations, and the mass media (Finders University, 2010; 35).

Non-government organizations (NGO) play a big role in the propagation of interest in food policy (Finders University, 2010; 36). NGOs can being many different types of people together for a cause (such as the case in Lang's (1997) article). The coming together of middle-income individuals, politicians, scientists, activists -- among other groups -- "helped to set the scene for public vigilance regarding the actions of government and food industry" (2010; 36).