This paper presents the sustainable food entrepreneurship framework (SFEF). It aims to further the understanding of the role of entrepreneurship in the sustainability transition of the food system, especially in the context of food system relocalization. The framework conceptualizes sustainable food entrepreneurship as a cyclical ongoing process of change. We argue this enables transcending the behaviour of entrepreneurs and their enterprises and map the ongoing development they fit into. The framework is based on literature reviews and expert interviews in the Dutch city-region of Almere-Flevoland. Theoretically, it expands on effectuation and bricolage theory, i.e. the 'resourcefulness perspective', that centres the socio-material context in the entrepreneurial process. The framework assumes the uncertainty of sustainability incites a cyclical process of change and implores entrepreneurs to reflect on the past before imagining the future. These imagined futures must be fitted to the socio-material context before emerging as artefacts (e.g. products, services or firms), which incites new uncertainties and a new cycle of change. Our framework has implications for policy and science. Its temporal dimension, that accentuates the continuous change entrepreneurship spurs, incites a reevaluation of terms such as 'success' and 'failure'. Moreover, it stresses the importance of intermediary actors in facilitating entrepreneurship.

Theory and practice show that second-tier cities can play an important role in linking the urban and the rural. Second-tier cities are the middle ground of the urban system. The smaller spatial scale of second-tier cities, and their often-stronger connections with the rural hinterland can potentially enable a more sustainable food system. In this paper, we argue that the extent to which the benefits ascribed to the re-localisation of food can be achieved greatly depends on the contextual specifics of the second-tier city and the region in which it is embedded. Furthermore, we argue that to reach resilient, healthy and environmentally friendly city region food systems, three contextual elements need to be considered in their mutual coherence: (1) the historical development of the second-tier city and the region; (2) the proximity of food production to the second-tier city; (3) the scale and reach of the city region’s food system. We use the case-study of the Dutch city Almere to show how (a controlled) growth of cities can be combined with maintaining (or even increasing) the strength of adjacent rural areas. Such cities can play a role in creating Garden Regions: regions that foster healthy, sustainable and resilient food systems and that do not just connect urban and rural regions, but also connect city region food systems to national and global markets.

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The sustainability transformation of the food system involves imagining a sustainable future whilst functioning within the current unsustainable food system. Some argue there is a difference between the goal-oriented and comfort seeking form in which the near future is engaged, and the reflexive, imaginary way in which the distant future is engaged. This begs the question, how is engagement with near and distant futures balanced, and what does this mean for the overall sustainability transformation of the food system? We studied future engagement in practices of food entrepreneurship in the Dutch province of Flevoland during the disruption caused by the covid-19-induced lockdowns. This disruption posed a challenge and an opportunity to study near and distant future engagement in depth. Through an online survey and offline semi-structured interviewing, we questioned practitioners of sustainable food entrepreneurship during the first and second lockdown, respectively. The findings show near future engagement is mostly associated with immediate change in practices enforced by the covid-19 lockdown, whereas distant future engagement primarily was visible in continuous change in practices as associated with sustainability. However, this does not mean near and distant future were perfectly balanced. Therefore, we argue pre-existing trends with regards to sustainability can be accelerated or obstructed when they meet the immediate effects of disruption. Our paper concludes by stating the need for more research to the interaction of near and distant futures in different contexts and circumstances.