A Measurement Framework for the King County Food System
A partnership among government agencies has been developing an evaluation model for food systems work in King County, Washington. This model will be relevant to the many diverse stakeholders in our food system, updatable at regular intervals, and scalable to other counties as well as the state level. The project builds upon King County Executive's Local Food Initiative.
Local and National Contexts Beginning with the framework of the Vermont Sustainable Job Fund’s Farm to Plate Strategic Plan, the partnership has adapted a model that represents local priorities. These adaptations are the result of collaboration with local agencies that provide guidance, critique, and data for the model based on our own King County Local Food Action Initiative. Our partners include Public Health Seattle King County, Department of Natural Resources and Parks, King Conservation District, and City of Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment. In addition to local feedback, the model considers aspects of other evaluative efforts around the country. Incorporation of diverse approaches such as the Leopold Center for Sustaining Agriculture’s work in in Iowa and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Committee’s work in greater Philadelphia situates the model within the landscape of national food systems efforts. Additional items were incorporated from the Global Impact Investing Network. |
Value Propositions
As an innovative, complex, and multidisciplinary field, food systems work is impossible to represent accurately in any one snapshot. In the midst of these challenges, this evaluation model will:
Dynamic Evaluation
This evaluation model was created as an ideal picture of what we want to know about the food system in King County. There are limitations to certain indicators in the model, and some indicators have not yet been measured at all. However, the processes of data collection and evaluation are not mutually exclusive and can take place in tandem, with one side informing another. While holes in the evaluation model highlight areas for data collection, our experiences in collecting that data may reveal a different, more informative indicator for the model. This ongoing and organic process sets King County efforts apart from many evaluation systems in the country.
A prototype model is under development. If you wish to know more about this work please email haley.rose.millet@gmail.com
As an innovative, complex, and multidisciplinary field, food systems work is impossible to represent accurately in any one snapshot. In the midst of these challenges, this evaluation model will:
- Provide a common measurement tool for the region that is useful across sectors and geographic boundaries. It will contextualize individual agency work in the larger system.
- Provide a framework for:
- Illuminating areas for data development and refining existing metrics
- Raising questions and creating consensus about definitions and measurements in the food system (e.g. what is a new farmer?)
- Provide a way for interested groups and individuals (including potential funders) to understand and come alongside ongoing food systems work in the county and beyond.
Dynamic Evaluation
This evaluation model was created as an ideal picture of what we want to know about the food system in King County. There are limitations to certain indicators in the model, and some indicators have not yet been measured at all. However, the processes of data collection and evaluation are not mutually exclusive and can take place in tandem, with one side informing another. While holes in the evaluation model highlight areas for data collection, our experiences in collecting that data may reveal a different, more informative indicator for the model. This ongoing and organic process sets King County efforts apart from many evaluation systems in the country.
A prototype model is under development. If you wish to know more about this work please email haley.rose.millet@gmail.com