The New Orleans Food System and COVID-19: A Case Study in Strengthening Food System Resiliency to Facilitate Healthy Eating

<b>Background/Objectives:</b> Policies to promote healthy eating often work through local food systems, which link food supply chains and food environments to individuals. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in national and global supply chains and emphasized the importance of local food systems in meeting community and individual needs. Unfortunately, we know too little about how to shape local food systems. This case study reports the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the New Orleans food system and the subsequent response from the community and local government to strengthen it through city and state policy changes, public-private collaborations, and grassroots citizens' efforts. <b>Methods:</b> This study uses a participant-observer approach in which observations from an online 2020 survey of local food organizations (<i>n</i> = 56) were fielded by the New Orleans Food Policy Action Council (FPAC), a local coalition of food and agriculture groups. The authors, who worked with or were a part of FPAC, analyzed survey data for recurrent themes and then synthesized this with archived written materials and the authors' own observations. <b>Results:</b> Key themes from this survey are detailed, along with an exploration of related efforts within the community, including: (1) Greaux the Good, a campaign developed by local food system stakeholders to successfully advocate for increased food assistance funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; (2) policy change related to food vendor permitting; and (3) establishment of two positions within the local government: a City Food Specialist to increase collaboration between organizations in the food system and an Urban Agriculture Liaison to support local food production. Lastly, innovative programs of grassroots citizens' organizations are detailed due to their positive impact on food access for community members. <b>Conclusions:</b> The cumulative impacts of these efforts added to the resiliency of the local food system and may protect it against the effects of future disasters as well as strengthen its ability to promote healthy eating.