A Tool for Food and Farm Policy Evaluation

Northeast Ag Works! is a region-wide project to propose, promote and support public policies that sustain and foster our region’s agriculture and food system. We believe that giving greater voice to regional issues and needs will ensure more equitable and responsive state and federal policies and programs.

The purpose of this checklist (available here as a Word document) is to assess how a policy serves our – or any -- region. We hope you’ll use it to evaluate policy proposals as well as existing policies – statutes, bills, programs, rules, regulations and directives.

Regionalism has emerged as a powerful principle in public policy. It is a framework that:
1. Responds to regional differences and needs; and
2. Encourages regional approaches and solutions.

A regionalist approach to public policy addresses appropriateness, flexibility and equity across regions. The assumption is that regions are different. Good public policies must reflect and respond to regional differences. They should not unfairly hurt, disadvantage or ignore certain regions or sectors within those regions.

In applying this tool, not every category or item will apply. This checklist is not exhaustive; it is meant to stimulate analysis about whether and how a policy is:
1. Appropriate for the region (or a sector of the region)
2. Flexible to respond to the region’s unique characteristics and needs
3. Equitable – does it distribute resources fairly, not necessarily equally