Unpacking the new urban food agenda: The changing dynamics of global governance in the urban age

Moving beyond the methodological ‘cityism’ of urban food scholarship, in this paper we focus on the ways in which the ‘urban’ is conceptualised, utilised and implicated in post-Quito development discourse. The analysis of international policy documents and data collected through interviews with stakeholders from prominent global organisations highlights the pervasiveness of globally orientated narratives of interconnected, multiscalar food governance that draw upon socio-technical agendas of ‘smart’, ‘territorially integrated’ and ‘resilient’ ideology of capitalised urbanisation. To counteract the tendency of these narratives to reduce complex metabolic processes to mere indicators and targets there is a need for a new research and policy agenda that takes account of urban agencies, inequities of power and the politics of knowledge that permeate multilevel food governance. As we conclude, the problematisation of the ‘urban’ and the contested emergence of smart (food) urbanisms require urgent attention to explicate strategies for a more polycentric and plurivocal food system governance

Re-assembling sustainable food cities: An exploration of translocal governance and its multiple agencies

Cities have begun to develop a more “place-based approach” to food policy that emphasizes translocal alliances. To understand how such alliances develop distinct capacities to act, in this paper we integrate key theoretical contributions from governance networks, social movements and translocal assemblages. Our analysis focuses on the activities and tools used by the UK’s Sustainable Food Cities Network to assemble local experiences, create common imaginaries and perform collective action. Through these processes, we argue, the network creates cross-scalar, collective and distributive agencies that are modifying incumbent governance dynamics. As we conclude, this raises the need to further explore how translocal configurations can develop forms of power that contest, break or reassemble the relations in the food system that are actively preventing the emergence of more sustainable foodscapes

The new geography of food security: exploring the potential of urban food strategies

Food insecurity is increasingly ‘bimodal’, encompassing issues of quantity and quality, under- and overconsumption, in developed and developing countries alike. At a time when most of the world's population lives in cities, food security has also assumed a strong urban dimension, raising new issues of physical and financial access to food. Finally, the recent emergence of a ‘New Food Equation’, marked by food price hikes, dwindling natural resources, land grabbing activities, social unrest, and the effects of climate change, is bringing onto the global food security agenda a range of often interrelated sustainability concerns. Responses to this new geography of food security are increasingly emerging at the local level, particularly in industrialised countries, where municipal governments are recasting themselves as food system innovators. Based on the documentary analysis of 15 urban food strategies from Canada, the USA and the UK, the paper addresses three main questions: What type of ‘foodscape’ do these documents envision, and why? Does the rescaling of food governance coincide with the emergence of a new localistic approach to food security? What type of priorities and concrete measures do city governments identify to deal with the new geography of food security? By highlighting the centrality of the relationships between urban and rural areas and actors as targeted intervention areas, the analysis raises the need for a tighter scholarly and policy focus on ‘connectivities’ – i.e. the role of food exchange nodes and of governance coordination in the design and implementation of more effective food security strategies

A tradução de dietas sustentáveis na prática: o potencial da contratação de alimentos públicos

Building on widespread calls for policies and development strategies that align human and ecological goals, an increasing number of scholars and practitioners are turning to the concept of “sustainable diet” as a guiding principle to address the multidimensional implications of food production on society, the environment and the economy. After discussing the core principles of this concept and providing some examples of its practical application, this article explores the potential of food procurement in progressing sustainable diets in public canteens. A critical review of the literature shows that there are three main barriers that need to be overcome to embed the principles of “sustainable diet” in public contracts: the primacy of a rigid ‘value for money’ ethos, which reinforces a risk-averse culture around public food provision that inhibits individuals and organisations from driving change; the tendency by governments to promote ‘silo-ed’ approaches to change leadership on issues like public procurement, which inhibit the levels of knowledge-sharing and collective endeavor across departments that is required to underpin sustainable procurement reform; and a lack of technical knowledge related to sustainable procurement and sustainable food provision.Con base en llamamientos generalizados por políticas y estrategias de desarrollo que alinean objetivos humanos y ecológicos, un número creciente de estudiosos y profesionales está recurriendo al concepto de "dieta sustentable" como un principio orientador para abordar las implicaciones multidimensionales de la producción de alimentos en la sociedad, en el medio ambiente y en la economía. Después de discutir los principios fundamentales de este concepto y proporcionar algunos ejemplos de su aplicación práctica, este artículo explora el potencial de la compra de alimentos en el desarrollo de dietas sostenibles en compras públicas de alimentos. Una revisión crítica de la literatura muestra que hay tres barreras principales que deben ser superadas para incorporar los principios de la dieta sostenible en las compras públicas: la primacía de un ethos rígido, "value for money", que refuerza una cultura aversión al riesgo en torno de la provisión de alimentos públicos que inhibe a individuos y organizaciones de impulsar el cambio; la tendencia de los gobiernos de promover enfoques "silenciados" para cambiar el liderazgo en cuestiones como las compras públicas, que inhiben los niveles de intercambio de conocimiento y esfuerzo colectivo entre los departamentos necesarios para sostener la reforma sostenible de adquisiciones; y falta de conocimiento técnicoCom base em apelos generalizados por políticas e estratégias de desenvolvimento que alinhem objetivos humanos e ecológicos, um número crescente de estudiosos e profissionais está recorrendo ao conceito de “dieta sustentável” como um princípio orientador para abordar as implicações multidimensionais da produção de alimentos na sociedade, no meio ambiente e na economia. Depois de discutir os princípios fundamentais deste conceito e fornecer alguns exemplos da sua aplicação prática, este artigo explora o potencial da aquisição de alimentos no desenvolvimento de dietas sustentáveis em compras públicas de alimentos. Uma revisão crítica da literatura mostra que há três barreiras principais que precisam ser superadas para incorporar os princípios da “dieta sustentável” nas compras públicas: a primazia de um ethos rígido, “value for money”, que reforça uma cultura avessa ao risco em torno da provisão de alimentos públicos que inibe indivíduos e organizações de impulsionar a mudança; a tendência dos governos de promover abordagens "silenciadas" para mudar a liderança em questões como as compras públicas, que inibem os níveis de compartilhamento de conhecimento e esforço coletivo entre os departamentos necessários para sustentar a reforma sustentável de aquisições; e falta de conhecimento técnico relacionado a compras sustentáveis e fornecimento sustentável de alimentos

City-to-city cooperation for more democratic and inclusive food systems: what has been achieved and what remains to be done?

It is estimated that 80% of all food will be consumed in urban areas by 2050. As a result, cities are increasingly viewed as key drivers of the transition to sustainable food systems that can ensure food security and livelihoods for all while lowering emissions and safeguarding the environment. Municipal governments are indeed engaging with food policies as part of their broader sustainable development agendas and their efforts to transition to a circular economy and strengthen urban–rural interlinkages. City food networks – led by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, which celebrated its 7th global forum in Barcelona in October – provide important frameworks for urban food action. However, they alone cannot tackle the unevenness of global urban food geography and the economic and political power structures that shape today’s food systems

The cultural dynamics of urban food governance.

In the context of an ongoing crisis of the global food system, research has recently emphasized the transformative potential of emerging urban food policies, particularly in relation to new strategies and mechanisms utilized at the implementation stage. This paper aims to expand this debate through a focus on the cultural dimension of urban food governance --- that is, the values and meanings that inform municipal food policies. Based on the analysis of 19 documents produced by 17 cities in Canada, the UK and the USA and by formalized city networks, the paper identifies four core values that inform the narratives of urban food policies: a systemic approach to food, which is viewed as a multifunctional public good; an emphasis on civil society participation in the governance of the food system; a flexible and inclusive approach to relocalization; and a new focus on the trans-local scale. As the paper concludes, these values are creating an important platform to build the social and cultural capacities needed to meet a wide range of contemporary joined-up sustainability challenges – in the food system and beyond

Relationalities and convergences in food security narratives: towards a place based approach

This paper addresses emerging calls for an enhanced relationality and convergence across different food security discourses. Based on a critical analysis of different narratives and concepts that have, over time, been deployed to address the food security problem, this paper asks: How, and to what extent, can the different narratives on food security and their different postulates be integrated to create a context that fosters closer connections between food system activities and more empowered relations between its actors? To address this question, the paper focuses on the governance frameworks embedded in different narratives on food security – i.e. the role attributed to different food system actors, their diverse views of rights and responsibility, and the types of interactions that are prioritised to achieve collective goals. The analysis exposes the limitations of conceptual frameworks as diverse as productivism, food sovereignty, livelihood security, the right-to-food, food democracy, food citizenship and community food security, which, we argue, tend to be locked into fixed levels of scale and generalised as well as oppositional assumptions. As the paper concludes, efforts to refine the food security agenda should start with a recognition of place as key and active meso-level mediator – that is, as a progressive canvass for reassembling resources around more effective food production–consumption relations and as a multiscalar theoretical lens that offers the conceptual advantage of building far more complexity and diversity into aggregated food security debates