Contemporary governance is marked by a participatory turn that sees an active role for non-governmental actors in traditionally governmental activities, such as policy-making. This trend has been prevalent across food policy and reflects a key feature of food democracy. While participation of non-governmental actors has been well researched, in this paper we address a gap in the literature by examining the role of governmental actors. We ask specifically how civil servants frame the participation of non-governmental actors in policy processes. Drawing on ethnographic research we introduce the case of civil servants working on an urban food policy for the municipality of Ede. Our analysis uncovers two competing frames: one highlighting the responsibility of the municipality to take a leading role in food policy making, and one responding reflexively to non-governmental actors through a reactive attitude. The analysis provides insights into how the framing of participation by civil servants serves to shape the conditions for participation of non-governmental actors. It further sheds light on related practices and uncovers existing tensions and contradictions, with important implications for food democracy. We conclude by showing how in the short term, a strong leadership role of civil servants, informed by the responsibility frame, may be effective for advancing policy objectives of the municipality. However, the reactive frame illustrates that civil servants worry this approach is not effective for maintaining meaningful participation of non-governmental actors. This remains a key tension of participatory municipal-led urban food policy making.
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