The Proposed Impact and Anticipated Barriers of Establishing Food Action Groups in Rural, Regional, and Remote Western Australia

OBJECTIVE: To identify Food Action Groups' activities that positively impact local food systems, and anticipated barriers to establishing Food Action Groups in rural, regional, and remote Western Australia. DESIGN: This qualitative study employed a phenomenological approach. Nineteen focus groups were conducted. SETTING: Rural, regional, and remote Western Australia locations, including 11 towns across 8 regions. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 92 participants (61 interest holders and 31 community members). ANALYSIS: A thematic analysis was undertaken. RESULTS: Priority activities included government advocacy to support local commercial food production, processing, and sales; retain food within its region of origin; and home and community food growing. Another desirable activity was the delivery of nutrition education and cooking programs to enhance community food knowledge and skills. Participants perceived finding the right personnel to drive action would be the leading barrier to Food Action Group success. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings support prioritizing activities that align with locally identified needs, such as government advocacy and planning for barriers to maximize the impact of Food Action Groups. Future research could include comprehensive outcome/impact evaluation or implementation science approaches to determine effectiveness, critical success factors, and guide scale-up across rural, regional, and remote areas, followed by comparative studies of impact by location type.