Addressing food security through public policy action in a community-based participatory research partnership

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an increasingly utilized research approach that involves the affected community identifying a health-related problem, developing a research agenda, and planning an appropriate intervention to address the problem. This report on a CBPR partnership in San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood documents the rise of a community food security policy in response to youth-involved research that found poor access to quality food in an economically disadvantaged area of the city. To analyze the impact of the research on public policy, a framework of specific steps in the policy-making process is used to organize and better understand the partnership's objectives, activities, strategies, and successes. This community-health department partnership has been able to achieve an innovative and sustainable public policy solution, the Good Neighbor Program, by working closely with policy makers and local businesses to expand community accessibility to healthy food.