Advancing food democracy: The potential and limits of food policy positions in local government

Abstract

For several decades, food policy councils (FPCs) have led the effort to place food on local govern­ment policy agendas. While FPCs are making pro­gress in supporting local food systems, they also face institutional and organizational challenges. In recent years, a handful of cities and counties have endeavored to further food system reform with the establishment of full-time government staff posi­tions focused on food policy. As of spring 2020, there were 19 confirmed food policy positions housed in local governments across the United States. While there is considerable literature on FPCs, little research has been published regarding food policy staffing in local governments. Accordingly, this study uses original in-depth inter­views with 11 individuals in municipal or county food policy positions to understand the purpose and function of governmental food policy staff positions and their impact on local food systems. Our findings suggest that these positions help to coordinate and nurture local food programs and policies and have the potential to facilitate mean­ingful participation of individuals and groups in the community in food system reform. We discuss the potential benefits and challenges for governmental food policy positions to support food democracy, and provide the following recom­mendations for communities interested in estab­lishing or strengthening similar positions: (1) iden­tify and coordinate existing opportunities and assets, (2) foster and maintain leadership support, (3) root the work in community, (4) connect with other food policy professionals, and (5) develop a food system vision.

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“…As with other studies, we found that policy implementation processes were facilitated by organizational and structural factors such as funding availability, collaboration between LG departments, and the presence of dedicated staff members. The benefits of assigned staff members included building support for policy development and maintaining momentum once policies were implemented (Berglund et al, 2021;Mendes, 2008).…”

“…To this end, Bendigo and Cardinia both used a collective impact approach in developing and implementing their policies, which formalized these principles. However, appropriate staffing and funding levels for food system initiatives is important to ensure that LGs can engage with external stakeholders effectively and to facilitate their steering or leading role (Berglund et al, 2021;Coulson & Sonnino, 2019).…”

“…Creation of objectives, targets, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks should occur in tandem with policy development (Raja et al, 2018). Policy implementation can be enhanced by delegating responsibility for food system policies and programs to a dedicated food systems officer (Berglund et al, 2021), and by working with a range of partners in the community. Finally, systematic evaluations can help demonstrate impacts and generate evidence of success that can be important to securing funding (Raja et al, 2018).…”

The role of Australian civil society organisations in food system governance: Opportunities for collaboration in dietetics practice

“…Respondent organisations provided permission to be named in reports of the survey data, although individual respondents were kept confidential. Naming the organisations and the initiatives they have undertaken enables the data to be reported in a more meaningful way and may create collaboration and networking opportunities for respondents 23 …”

Dachas and food democracy—What makes a (good) food citizen?

“…Further case studies on food democracy include food policy councils in Germany and in the US (Sieveking, 2019;Berglund et al, 2021) and food sharing initiatives in Western European cities (Davies et al, 2019), among others. Against this backdrop, we aim to shed light on the agricultural practices prevalent in the East.…”