Food Democracy

Booth, Sue; Coveney, John

doi:10.1007/978-981-287-423-8

Cited by 53 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Food democracy-understood broadly as active participation of citizens and political engagement to address conflicting values and desires related to food systemshas been said to be the 'best hope for finding workable solutions to conflicts about the character and direction of the agro-food system' (Hassanein, 2003, p. 79). Unequal distribution of power in the food system propelled calls for food democracy, the essence of which lies in the redistribution of power within the food system (Booth & Coveney, 2015). Lang (1999), who is credited with the introduction of the concept of food democracy, positions food democracy as a movement calling for better access and more equal sharing of the benefits from the food system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Civil Servants Frame Participation: Balancing Municipal Responsibility With Citizen Initiative in Ede’s Food Policy

Griend

Duncan

Wiskerke

2019

PaG

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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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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While a central tenet of food democracy relates to meaningful participation (Booth & Coveney, 2015), participation is not without contestation. Participation of NGAs in policy processes has been critiqued as symbolic ritual, for a lack of active participation, and as a symptom of an unresponsive government (Innes & Booher, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Civil Servants Frame Participation: Balancing Municipal Responsibility With Citizen Initiative in Ede’s Food Policy

Griend

Duncan

Wiskerke

2019

PaG

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“…As Jubas (2012) put it, learners may come to realize that "stores cannot replace ballot boxes and legislatures" (p. 68), and that the act of buying locally grown food by itself will not necessarily lead to social, material transformation of existing food systems. We therefore ultimately argue that citizens' engagement with multicultural texts has the potential to prepare and invite them to participate in a "food democracy" (Booth & Coveney, 2015;Hassanein, 2003Hassanein, , 2008Lang, 2007) in which citizens grapple with, deliberate across, and work through diverse views and conflicting values to make informed, nuanced decisions that can ultimately contribute to just, sustainable food systems.…”

Section: Discussion: Toward Critical Food Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Visible the People Who Feed Us: Educating for Critical Food Literacy Through Multicultural Texts

Yamashita

Robinson²

2016

JAFSCD

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The number of food systems education programs and curricula in the U.S. has increased in response to the growing interest in where food comes from and how it is grown. While these educational efforts aim to increase learners' connection to food and the land, they do not always focus explicitly on the structural inequities that shape food systems and the experiences of food workers. There is, however, a small but growing number of food systems education programs that seek to shed light on and challenge these inequities. We build on these existing critical approaches to food systems education by introducing the notion of critical food literacy-or the ability to examine one's assumptions, grapple with multiple perspectives and values that underlie the food system, understand the larger sociopolitical contexts that shape the food system, and take action toward creating just, sustainable food systems. In particular, we discuss and highlight the potential of multicultural texts to make visible food workers, especially those who tend to be less visible, and identify pedagogical strategies for cultivating critical food literacy by drawing on empirical research on response to multicultural literature and using a multicultural text produced by the Food Chain Workers Alliance as an illustrative example. Ultimately, we argue that citizens who develop and demonstrate critical food literacy can participate in public, democratic discourse about food systems and help create food systems that are just and sustainable for all.

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“…The concept of "food democracy" was first prominently coined in 1999 by the food scholar and former farmer Tim Lang (Lang, 1999). It develops a critical perspective on the state of the current food system and its organization (Hassanein, 2008;Booth and Coveney, 2015;Bornemann and Weiland, 2019a). The constitution of the current food system is hardly compatible with the idea of (direct) democratic self-determination, as it promotes the disenfranchisement of people with regard to the choice and organization of their food supply.…”

Section: Food Democracy and Good Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The constitution of the current food system is hardly compatible with the idea of (direct) democratic self-determination, as it promotes the disenfranchisement of people with regard to the choice and organization of their food supply. In a system of industrial mass food production run by a small number of multinational corporations, people are disconnected from their food base and left with few opportunities to participate in shaping the food system (Lang, 1999;Hassanein, 2003;Booth and Coveney, 2015;Petetin, 2016). Power is concentrated in corporate farms, lobbying groups, and multinational food corporations, potentially sanctioned by governmental allies, and these alliances largely escape direct democratic control (Hamilton, 2004;Booth and Coveney, 2015).…”

Section: Food Democracy and Good Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities and challenges of food policy councils in pursuit of food system sustainability and food democracy–a comparative case study from the Upper-Rhine region

Michel

Wiek

Bloemertz

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Conventional food systems continue to jeopardize the health and well-being of people and the environment, with a number of related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) still far from being reached. Food Policy Councils (FPCs)—since several decades in North America, and more recently in Europe—have begun to facilitate sustainable food system governance activities among various stakeholders as an explicit alternative to the shaping of food systems by multinational food corporations and their governmental allies. In contrast to the former, FPCs pursue the goals of food system sustainability through broad democratic processes. Yet, at least in Europe, the agenda of FPCs is more an open promise than a firm reality (yet); and thus, it is widely unknown to what extent FPCs actually contribute to food system sustainability and do so with democratic processes. At this early stage, we offer a comparative case study across four FPCs from the Upper-Rhine Region (Freiburg, Basel, Mulhouse, Strasbourg)—all formed and founded within the past 5 years—to explore how successful different types of FPCs are in terms of contributing to food system sustainability and adhering to democratic and good governance principles. Our findings indicate mixed results, with the FPCs mostly preparing the ground for more significant efforts at later stages and struggling with a number of challenges in adhering to principles of democracy and good governance. Our study contributes to the theory of sustainable food systems and food democracy with the focus on the role of FPCs, and offers procedural insights on how to evaluate them regarding sustainable outcomes and democratic processes. The study also offers practical insights relevant to these four and other FPCs in Europe, supporting their efforts to achieve food system sustainability with democratic processes.

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Food Democracy

Cited by 53 publications

References 20 publications

How Civil Servants Frame Participation: Balancing Municipal Responsibility With Citizen Initiative in Ede’s Food Policy

How Civil Servants Frame Participation: Balancing Municipal Responsibility With Citizen Initiative in Ede’s Food Policy

Making Visible the People Who Feed Us: Educating for Critical Food Literacy Through Multicultural Texts

Opportunities and challenges of food policy councils in pursuit of food system sustainability and food democracy–a comparative case study from the Upper-Rhine region

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