A Public Policy Advocacy Project to Promote Food Security: Exploring Stakeholders' Experiences

To achieve food security in Canada, comprehensive approaches are required, which involve action at the public policy level. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 14 stakeholders engaging in a 9-month participatory public policy advocacy project to promote community food security in the province of Alberta through the initiation of a campaign to develop a Universal School Food Strategy. Through this exploration, four main themes were identified; a positive and open space to contribute ideas, diversity and common ground, confidence and capacity, and uncertainty. Findings from this study suggest that the participatory advocacy project provided a positive and open space for stakeholders to contribute ideas, through which the group was able to narrow its focus and establish a goal for advocacy. The project also seems to have contributed to the group's confidence and capacity to engage in advocacy by creating a space for learning and knowledge sharing, though stakeholders expressed uncertainty regarding some aspects of the project. Findings from this study support the use of participatory approaches as a strategy for facilitating engagement in public policy advocacy and provide insight into one group's advocacy experience, which may help to inform community-based researchers and advocates in the development of advocacy initiatives to promote community food security elsewhere.