Urban Food Policy Research Articles

Assessing what food policies lead to on the ground: exploring opportunities and challenges of the MUFPP indicator framework

ABSTRACT Local governments are increasingly adopting food policies, but the extent to which these policies advance their stated aims often remains unknown. Indicator frameworks have been developed to facilitate evaluation, but in practice, food policy evaluation remains limited, as cities face increasing challenges. Through an explorative case study, we examine implementation opportunities and challenges for the indicator framework with a relatively greater potential reach among governments: the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact framework. Data, collected from expert interviews, were inductively analyzed for evaluation opportunities and challenges. Our analysis confirms that, at present, the value of this framework lies less in the evaluation outcomes themselves, and more in opportunities generated from the process, such as concretizing policy priorities and goals and generating political will. Encountered challenges include lack of data and resources, difficulty of adaptation to the local context, and poor data accessibility. Evaluation challenges between thematic areas differ: issues related to food production, supply, and distribution prove relatively hard, while health and governance issues are easier to assess. We emphasize the value of approaching evaluation less as a mechanism of accountability and control, and more with a view to acknowledging its processual capacity to improve food policy and learn.

Public land for urban food policy? A critical data-analysis of public land transactions in the Ghent city region (Belgium)

ABSTRACT The development of urban food policies has shed light on the strategic role of public landownership for strengthening farmers capacities in the context of rising land values. Despite attention on a few pioneering farming initiatives promoted by local authorities on public farmland, however, there is often little understanding of the extent of public landownership and the modus operandi of public institutions within urban land markets. This makes it hard to assess how representative these ‘pioneering’ projects are and whether or not they are embedded in coherent urban agendas. The city region of Ghent (Belgium) offers an exemplary case: internationally celebrated for its innovative urban food policy, its administration is at the centre of controversies with farmers and grassroots movements who denounced the large-scale sell-off of historical public farmland in the city region. Using Belgian Land Registry data, this paper constructs a unique, empirically grounded, cartography of public landownership and public land transaction for the Ghent city region. The results expose deep contradictions in public policy and demonstrate the continuation of an urbanism disconnected from agricultural concerns. They also provide tools for reshaping the management of public land aligned to urban food policy goals, in and beyond the Ghent city region.

Democratic food governance capacity at the local level: the cases of Livorno and Pisa

ABSTRACT The democratization of food governance is considered to be one way of challenging the crisis in the global food system. Local governments have recently emerged as prominent actors in food governance. Despite the increasing interest and action from local institutions, in most countries local food policies are far from being adopted by local governments as systematic policy. This paper explores the democratic local food governance capacity model as both an analytical and normative framework aimed at supporting local governments to set up democratic local food governance architectures based on urban food strategies and food policy councils. The model is used to analyse the Italian case studies of the Municipality of Livorno and the Province of Pisa in order to identify insights and policy recommendations for local governments. The analysis reveals how the construction of local democratic food governance systems is conditioned by multiple factors related to the structural, procedural and socio-cultural support, which also influence the implementation of democratic food governance.

Destabilizing the food regime “from within”: Tools and strategies used by urban food policy actors

In the context of food transition studies scant attention has been given to the role of state authorities (be they local or national) in destabilizing the dominant food regime. Specifically, little is known about how state-based regime actors use the power at their disposal to bring about change “from within”. Using a political economy approach and data from qualitative research with local government actors in 10 European cities, this paper explores the different power instruments utilized by (local) government authorities to undermine the material, organizational and discursive base of the (conventional) agri-food regime. What emerges from our research is that local authorities have used a mix of discursive, material and organizational tools to alter the dominant narrative around food and have reoriented material resources towards activities that support a new approach to food. Obstacles in this transition pathway lie in ensuring internal coordination within cities and vertical alliances with higher administrative levels.

Constructing practice-oriented futures for sustainable urban food policy in Bangkok

Conventional policy approaches emphasize technical solutions and individual behavioral change, but practice-based policy approaches offer an alternative. This paper examines the operationalization of a practice-oriented futures policy development process. The process builds on practice theory to generate alternative sustainable future pathways and policy intervention ideas, and in doing so, extends the vocabulary for policy-focused futures work. We focus on three practices with implications for urban sustainability - food purchasing, eating out, and home cooking in Bangkok, Thailand. A multi-phase process of interlinked workshops including visioning, scenario evaluation, and transition pathways was enacted with food system actors and policy makers. Role-play and narrative elements were incorporated to elicit transformative and systems knowledge on how practices are or might be embedded in everyday life and generated policy ideas to enable such practices to emerge in the future. Different practices showed varying degrees of amenability to the process, based on participants' sense of agency and individual and community-based practice memories. This paper contributes to our understanding of how future practices are co-constructed and how policies might guide practice trajectories in the future. Practice-oriented futures policy development opens pathways for integrated policy ideas, mirroring the growing recognition for integrated governance structures.

Motivations of Public Officials as Drivers of Transition to Sustainable School Food Provisioning: Insights from Avignon, France

A large body of experience and expertise on the implementation of sustainable public school food procurement policies has developed in recent years. However, there has been little investigation of the values and motivations of the public officials implementing the policies. To address this gap, we examine how the city of Avignon (France) took a step toward transition to local fresh food procurement for public schools, under French government calls for sustainable food products in public canteens. Our analysis combines the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on sustainable transitions with the Public Service Motivation construct. Unlike other studies addressing the MLP at a macro level, we focus on individual motivations behind public action. We demonstrate that staff motivations have a major impact on how policies supporting transition to local fresh food procurement for public schools are implemented. These public officials’ approach to food shows concern for the public interest regardless of financial return. It is not the rational choice (utilitarian or monetary rewards) that primarily drives the implementation of urban food policies, but normative conformity (equity, education, fairness) and affective bonding (health, environmental convictions). Interestingly, we conclude that the success of Avignon’s politically-driven school food procurement policy is essentially due to the catering and procurement staff who overcame the barriers to its implementation.

Sustainability assessment of short food supply chains (SFSC): developing and testing a rapid assessment tool in one African and three European city regions

Recent literature demonstrates the contribution of short food supply chains (SFSC) to regional economies and sustainable food systems, and acknowledges their role as drivers for sustainable development. Moreover, different types of SFSC have been supported by urban food policies (UFP) over the few last years and actors from the food chain became part of new institutional settings for urban food policies. However, evidence from the sustainability impact assessment (SIA) of these SFSC in urban contexts is limited. Our paper presents an approach for the development of an SIA framework for different SFSC types. In addition, a practical application of the tool in four metropolitan regions (Berlin, London, Ljubljana and Nairobi) is tested. The conceptual development of the SIA framework is based on an in-depth analysis of existing SIA frameworks and methods for assessing the sustainability of agriculture, food chains and food systems and adapted to the specific needs of analysing SFSC in metropolitan regions. The operational value and utility of the framework and the tool were tested with social and natural scientists and local stakeholders. The assessment results demonstrate that SFSC seems to be more sustainable than the baseline (long global food chains) in the social dimension, but also feature specific strengths and weaknesses concerning their economic and environmental sustainability. This might give an indication for regional adjusted strategies and food chain innovations that improve the sustainability performance may be required. We found the tool useful for framing the dialogue between food chain actors, consumers and policy, because it makes benefits and trade-offs of the chain types operating in an urban–rural context more visible and communicable.

Food Policy Processes in the City of Rome: A Perspective on Policy Integration and Governance Innovation

In the food policy arena, the topic of governance and how to create a governance system that would deal with cross-cutting issues, including new ways of perceiving the public sphere, the policymaking, and the involvement of the population, has become an important field of study. The research presented in this article focuses on the case study of Rome, comparing different paths that various groups of actors have taken toward the definition of urban food policy processes: the Agrifood Plan, Food Policy for Rome, and Community Gardens Movement. The aim of the research is to understand the state of the art about different paths toward food strategies and policies that are currently active in the Roman territory while investigating the relationship between policy integration and governance innovation structures. Indeed, this paper dives into the governance structure of the three food policy processes, the actors and sectors involved, and the goals and instruments selected to achieve a more sustainable food system for the city. In this context, their characteristics are analyzed according to an innovative conceptual framework, which, by crossing two recognized theoretical systems, on policy integration and governance innovation frameworks, allows to identify the capacity of policy integration and governance innovation. The analysis shows that every process performs a different form of governance, implemented according to the actor and backgrounds that compose the process itself. The study demonstrates that governance innovation and policy integration are strongly linked and that the conception and application of policy integration changes according to the governance vision that a process has.

Informal ready-to-eat food vending: a social practice perspective on urban food provisioning in Nigeria

The way people access food in Nigeria is of central relevance for food security, health and sustainability. One key trend is the shift from household-based to primarily out-of-home food consumption as an increasing majority of the urban poor derive their daily nutrient intake from street foods. However, few studies have yet explored the role of the ready-to-eat food vending sector in urban food systems and the diets of the urban poor. This paper investigates the interrelations between these practices and the diversity of food groups provisioned among the urban poor in developing city contexts. A social practice approach is employed to explore differentiation among informal-ready-to-eat food vending practices in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria, in terms of their daily activities, competences and resources. Applied methods include GIS mapping, food log diaries, in-depth interviews and participant observation to map and classify informal-ready-to-eat food vending practices according to the nature of food provisioned and explore the everyday performances of different informal-ready-to-eat food vending practice initiatives and their relation to dietary diversity. The results reveal three key categories among these practices: traditional, processed and unprocessed—with varying levels of diversity in the food groups on offer. Traditional food vendors offer more diversified food compared to processed food vendors and unprocessed food vendors. The results reveal that material infrastructure, cooking bargaining and purchasing skills and nutritional knowledge are key to the diversity of food groups provisioned. The paper concludes by considering the wider relevance of these findings for urban food science and policy.

Global and Local Agendas: The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and Innovative Sustainable Food Policies in Euro-Latin American Cities

This paper analyzes the relationship between the construction of international agendas and new sustainable local policies. Specifically, it analyzes the framework of sustainable food policy building at global and local scales. In this sense, we explore the international agreement called the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, and its influence on the development of local and global sustainable food-related policies through different innovative methods. To this end, the process of building the international alliance of local governments for the development of sustainable food systems is analyzed first, and secondly, its locations are investigated through the public actions and programs in three cities of the Euro-Latin American region: Madrid, Quito, and Valencia. Two conclusions are clear after our qualitative study: on one hand, local policies are designed and implemented through a double strategy: the substantive construction of the policy and its inclusion in the global agenda. On the other hand, both dimensions are fundamental and reinforce each other, specifically in the case of urban sustainable food policy.

Roles of Cities in Creating Healthful Food Systems.

Over the past several decades, cities worldwide have attempted to reconfigure their food systems to improve public health, advance social justice, and promote environmental resilience using diverse municipal policies, often with the support of stakeholder-led governance mechanisms such as food policy councils. This article reviews the roles that cities have played in creating healthful urban food systems and the effects of those policies on public health. It explains that despite wide-ranging policy initiatives, disparities in food insecurity and malnourishment persist. It concludes by describing several promising pathways for urban food policy: engaging in food-focused urban planning to create equitable food environments; treating policies to address inequality and social justice as upstream food policies; considering the effects of new business models such as online food retail in urban food policy making; and using food procurement as a lever to influence regional, national, and global food systems.

Exploring the transformative potential of urban food

Urban food is a key lever for transformative change towards sustainability. While research reporting on the urban food practices (UFPs) in support of sustainability is increasing, the link towards transformative potential is lacking. This is because research on urban food is often place-based and contextual. This limits the applicability of insights to large-scale sustainability transformations. This paper describes UFPs that aim to contribute to transformative change. We present signposts for potential change based on the types of intended transformative changes as described in the reviewed literature based on the processes and outcomes of the urban food policies and programmes. Secondly, we classify diverse UFPs to elevate them beyond their local, place-based contexts. We find that UFPs carry a lot of potential to facilitate sustainability transformations. Based on that analysis, we provide insights on how urban food research can further contribute to harnessing the transformative potential of UFPs for actionable purposes.

Urban food policies and their influence on the development of Territorial Short Food Supply Chains: The case of cities in Colombia and Spain

Urban food policies (UFPs) have emerged as a key mechanism to drive the transition towards more sustainable food systems, with cities as the appropriate scale for their implementation. The aim of the paper is analysis of the boost that UFPs have given to one of the most widespread forms of Alternative Food Networks, these are Territorial Short Food Supply Chains (TSFSCs). For this, the territorial factors that strengthen TSFSCs in the cities of Bogotá (Colombia) and Córdoba (Spain), one being UFP, are prioritised using a multi-criteria model based on the Analytic Network Process. Based on this prioritisation, the way the UFPs interrelate with the other prioritised territorial factors in both cities is identified. Consequently, the influence of UFP implementation on social capital of TSFSCs is analysed through Social Network Analysis. The results indicate that there are four types of priority territorial sub-factors on which UFPs should have an impact in order to promote TSFSCs in the two cities. The first group is classified as means to achieve the other sub-factors. The other sub-factors are classified as ends. The main means are UFPs and partnership linkages. The territorial sub-factors included in the UFP are in the design and implementation phases of the policy cycle. Furthermore, UFPs foster bridging social capital, with actors connecting unconnected nodes. Finally, some of the reflections on the implications of UAPs indicate that the promotion of participatory governance mechanisms involving civil society is an important element to include in UFPs, given their influence on strengthening collective action and social capital in cities. This shows that a territorial approach in UFPs can have greater results in policy implementation. In this way the paper contributes, at the theoretical and empirical level, to recent debates on UFP approaches and the integration of key factors for food transformation in cities.

Local urban government policies to facilitate healthy and environmentally sustainable diet-related practices: a scoping review.

This scoping review sought to describe the policy actions that urban local governments globally have implemented to facilitate healthy and environmentally sustainable diet-related practices. Urban local government authorities. Five databases were searched to identify publications which cited policies being implemented by local governments within the 199 signatory cities of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) that targeted at least one healthy and sustainable diet-related practice. Grey literature was then searched to retrieve associated policy documentation. Data from both sources were charted against the MUFPP's monitoring framework to analyse the policy actions included in each overarching policy. From 2624 screened peer-reviewed studies, 27 met inclusion criteria and cited 36 relevant policies amongst signatory cities to the MUFPP. Most were from high income countries (n 29; 81 %), considered health (n 31; 86 %), equity (n 29; 81 %) and the broader food system beyond dietary consumption (n 34; 94 %). Of the 66 policy actions described, the most common involved food procurement within public facilities (n 16; 44 %) and establishing guidelines for school-feeding programs (n 12; 33 %). This review has demonstrated that urban local government authorities are implementing policies that consider multiple phases of the food supply chain to facilitate population-wide uptake of healthy and sustainable diet-related practices. Opportunities exist for local governments to leverage the dual benefits to human and planetary health of policy actions, such as those which discourage the overconsumption of food including less meat consumption and the regulation of ultra-processed foods.

A socioecological integrated analysis of the Barcelona metropolitan agricultural landscapes

To implement the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact while enhancing ecosystem services, the Barcelona Metropolitan Authority has commissioned a socioecological assessment of the metropolitan agriculture. A Socioecological Integrated Analysis has been carried out to incorporate ecosystem services as fundamental elements of the new Master Land Use Plan. This analysis involves assessing the functioning of metropolitan agricultural landscapes focusing on different dimensions: socio-metabolic efficiency (energy return on investment), biodiversity conservation, landscape functionality, global change, ecosystem services (supporting, regulation, provisioning) and social cohesion. After accounting indicators separately, they have been grouped through a principal component analysis into three factors: socio-metabolic flows, landscape functionality and system efficiency. An exploratory factor analysis has revealed trade-offs and synergies between these factors, with relevant implications for land-use policy. Finally, a correlation analysis has evaluated how the indicators interrelate among them. The results show that the improvement of complex socioecological systems requires new multi-criterial management where the different interrelated dimensions are jointly addressed. A new sustainability-oriented land-use planning combined with agricultural and environmental policies aimed at integrating farming with forestry and livestock activities would help reduce the dependence on non-renewable external energy inputs and, indirectly, the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from agri-food chains.

Urban food policies for a sustainable and just future: Concepts and tools for a renewed agenda

In the context of pressing socio-ecological challenges, from poverty and pandemics to climate change, urban food policies are expanding across the globe. The special issue on “Urban food policies for a sustainable and just future” aims to reflect on a decade of work and identify key concepts to deepen and broaden a transformative urban food agenda. This editorial provides an overview of the twelve papers that make up this collection, demonstrating some of the breadth of approaches used to study this phenomenon in different regions of the world, informed by different epistemic traditions and exemplified by diverse case studies such as urban agriculture, street vending, public procurement, spatial planning, city networks or deep explorations of specific urban policy-making processes. Building on this work and the broader literature, in this paper we identify three core turns in the urban food governance scholarship: a shift towards systemic engagement with the food system; increased engagement with scalar complexity; and a growing focus on relational aspects of urban food governance and policy-making dynamics. However, our analysis also points out three key aspects that require further focus for the field to be transformative: a stronger conceptualisation of the urban; a clearer definition and articulation of the nature of governance and policy; and a more engaged focus on issues of power and inequities. To address these gaps, we propose a set of tools in the form of definitions and frameworks to support the unfolding of an urgently needed more just and transformative urban food agenda.

The co-production of urban food policies: Exploring the emergence of new governance spaces in three Spanish cities

City councils around the globe are developing food policies that aim to integrate different sectors and actors involved in delivering sustainability and food security outcomes fostering changes in policy-making processes. However, the co-production of public policies faces multiple drawbacks to establish new forms of governance that generate greater legitimacy for institutions, improved efficiency, tighter social cohesion and deeper democratisation. This paper draws on recent literature on social innovation and critical governance to portray food policy co-production processes in Cordoba, Madrid and Valencia, analysing the changing role of the actors involved, identifying key factors and tools that sustain co-production processes, and highlighting common barriers. The results illustrate the changing roles of key actors in co-productive policies, together with the need to acknowledge the diversity of knowledge, capacities and interests within the public sector and civil society organisations to design effective policies. This includes crafting formal and informal governance spaces that underpin the fluid and constantly evolving process of developing food policies. This comparative study, thus, contributes to progress in conceptual and practical debates on co-production, providing new insights to inform future urban food policy developments.

Taking food out the private sphere? Addressing gender relations in urban food policy

ABSTRACT Urban food policies are increasingly considered central instruments for the promotion of food systems sustainability. As for their social sustainability, justice and equity are expected to play a central role, but gender equity remains not fully developed. In order to explore how gender relations can be addressed in the context of urban food policies in global North settings, in this paper we analyze the drafting process of the Urban Food Strategy of Zaragoza (Spain), self-identified as agroecology-oriented and which aimed at introducing a gender-sensitive approach. Based on empirical insights from this case study, we show that a lack of reflection and empirical development exists on the food policy-gender equity nexus, while at the same time there is an emergent body of specific proposals to be obtained from feminist and agroecological reflections on urban lifestyles. Indeed, our paper shows that agroecological and feminist approaches converge in claiming for the visibilization of food-related care work, and in its de-privatization through community-based infrastructures. The paper also unveils limiting conditions which may hinder the transformative potential of agroecology and feminism in urban food policy co-production processes, such as top-down approaches to food policy production, weak participatory processes, and gender-blind decisions among city officers.

Consumer and retailer preferences for local ingredients in processed foods: Evidence from a stacked choice experiment in an African urban dairy market

West African consumption of processed dairy products has been increasing over the past decades, most markedly in urban areas. In livestock-rich countries such as Mali, local milk production has the potential to meet growing demand. There is evidence, although limited, that consumers in the region prefer local fresh milk over imported milk. Yet, very little fresh milk is marketed in urban areas, where imported powdered milk dominates the market. The dichotomy between agricultural and urban food policies in Mali along with asymmetric information has likely contributed to this mismatch between fresh milk demand and supply. In this study, we bring new empirical evidence on preferences and information flows on processed dairy products. We employ a novel approach of stacked choice experiments to estimate and compare urban consumer and retailer preferences for three dairy product attributes: ingredient labeling, product safety certification, and packaging. Findings indicate that the majority (70%) of consumers are willing to pay a higher price for pasteurized milk that is manufactured purely from fresh milk, compared to powdered milk, pointing to an important market opportunity. Consumer and retailer preferences and willingness-to-pay are well aligned, suggesting that retailers have adequate information on their customers and that information asymmetry exists further upstream in the value chain. Better labeling regulations, government-backed certification, and policies that support packaging alternatives can improve information flows and strengthen the competitiveness of fresh milk value chains. Policymakers and manufacturers could also benefit from coordinating more closely with retailers as an information partner.

The emergence of city food networks: Rescaling the impact of urban food policies

Hundreds of cities across the globe are mobilising the convening power of food to deliver food security and sustainability outcomes supported by an increasing number of national and international city food networks devoted to scale-up and out this urban food revolution. This paper presents the first comparative analysis of this increasingly networked urban foodscape based on data from 13 national and international initiatives which together represent more than 500 cities across the globe. By applying a translocal governance framework, the paper explores the different aims, structures and mechanisms activated by this complex landscape of networks and how these intrinsic characteristics endow them with diverse strengths and limitations. To examine further the role of networks in rescaling the impact urban food policies, I analyse the metagovernance of these initiatives exploring discourses around coordination of these networks and identifying potential convergence points. Results from this study are translated into policy recommendations aimed at unfolding further the transformative capacity of translocal networks and elevate their role in unfolding a more integrated and equitable new urban food agenda; mainly by proposing to reinforce the cross-scalar alignment of food policies, making the case to invest in connective infrastructure such as network and backbone organisations, work with a wider diversity of agents, and provide open spaces that democratise access to collective knowledge and capacities. c. As urban food policies become the new norm, this research stresses the need for rescaling food system interventions that effectively deliver social and spatial justice in an increasingly polarised word.