Urban Food Strategy in the Making: Context, Conventions and Contestations

Mattia Andreola,Sara Favargiotti,Angelica Pianegonda,Francesca Forno

doi:10.3390/agriculture11020177

Abstract

Contemporary food systems face several paradoxes regarding equity and sustainability. Considering food production—an issue that simultaneously affects both the supply (production) and demand (consumption) sides—several cities have begun to implement new strategies, called Urban Food Policies. These approaches aim to address the various challenges presented by food system failures, while also involving the existing network of grassroot initiatives. For this reason, these have established Food Policy Councils, arenas where institutions can engage with supply chain actors and food activists, deciding through the processes of participatory democracy their Urban Food Strategies. This article investigates the evolution of a new Urban Food Strategy in a middle-sized Italian town, Trento. Despite a growing number of case studies discussing the promises and problematic aspects of UFS, empirical research and analysis tend to overlook the role of the context in which these processes are embedded and how the system of political, economic, cultural, and environmental opportunities weigh upon the success of these policies. The paper draws upon a multi-method qualitative approach combining in-depth interviews, document analysis, and direct observations of the construction process of an Urban Food Strategy for the city of Trento.

Highlights

The type of food that reaches consumers’ tables has significant social and environmental consequences
For every person suffering from malnutrition, there are two who are obese or overweight [1]
The reduction of negative externalities, both upstream and downstream of the food supply chain, is exacerbated by a “western consumption” model based on a logic of low prices, high availability of food, and high waste

Summary

Introduction

The type of food that reaches consumers’ tables has significant social and environmental consequences. The first paradox deals with food waste. An estimated 1.3 billion tons of edible food, equivalent to a third of global food production, is wasted each year [1]. Despite widespread hunger and malnutrition in the world, a larger percentage of what is grown is used for animal feed or biofuels [1]. The third paradox is linked to increasing inequalities at the global level. For every person suffering from malnutrition, there are two who are obese or overweight [1]. The reduction of negative externalities, both upstream and downstream of the food supply chain, is exacerbated by a “western consumption” model based on a logic of low prices, high availability of food, and high waste. Managing the consumption of the city is a key challenge for sustainability because it is precisely in the urban context that both global consumption models such as those of “fast food,” and the various approaches of “slow food” are more prevalent

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