Interventions designed to promote the consumption of locally produced foods: A scoping review.

Emily Haynes ^1* Catherine R Brown ² Cassandra Halliday ¹ Lutgardo Alcantara ³ Cristobal Cayetano ³ Lota Creencia ³ Lea Janine Gajardo ³ Amanda Goodwin ¹ Cornelia Guell ¹ Christina Howitt ² Viliamu IESE ^4,5 Alison Karley ⁶ John Roderick Madarcos ³ Karen Madarcos ³ Karyn Morrissey ⁷ Madhuvanti Murphy ² Khadija Patel ² Natasha Sobers ² Filipe Veisa ⁸ Nigel Unwin ^1,9

• ¹ European Centre for Environment and Human Health, Medical School, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
• ² The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Bridgetown, Barbados
• ³ College of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Western Philippines University, Palawan, Philippines
• ⁴ School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
• ⁵ Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji
• ⁶ The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
• ⁷ J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, College of Business, Public Policy and Law, University of Galway, Galway, County Galway, Ireland
• ⁸ University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji
• ⁹ MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Food system transformation is required for planetary health. Localising food systems and applying agroecological principles to food production and supply have been suggested to support a resilient and sustainable food system. This scoping review aimed to map the implementation of interventions designed to promote the consumption of locally produced food, their application of agroecological principles and the outcomes evaluated, across Global North and Global South countries. Searches were conducted systematically in fifteen databases. Screening was conducted against criteria to identify eligible studies and data extracted in REDCap and EPPI Reviewer. Data were narratively synthesised, and results displayed as tables, figures and an interactive evidence gap map. We found 147 eligible studies describing interventions to promote the consumption of locally produced food. Only two studies reported the impact of intervention on local versus non-local food procurement and we identified a lack of a standard framework for assessing the impact of changing food source practice. Most studies reported dietary outcomes, mainly fruit and vegetable intake, and less used metrics for dietary diversity, particularly in the Global North. A small proportion (5%) reported ecosystem related outcomes. All home growing interventions were conducted in the Global South and most school-based growing interventions were conducted in the Global North. Agroecological principles were applied to Global North and Global South interventions, but a greater proportion of the Global South studies applied agroecological practices (GS 30%; GN 4%). This map of experimental research on local food interventions identifies key differences in intervention types and agroecological principles and practices applied in Global South and Global North countries, potential learnings between settings, and gaps in the evidence. We call for greater coherence in the development, evaluation and reporting of local food interventions to enable synthesis on their effectiveness and to strengthen evidence on local food approaches aiming to improve human nutrition and planetary health.