Local food systems: a framework for food sovereignty?

Abstract

There are increasing debates about the importance of promoting collaborative local food systems – interconnected networks that merge the strategies of local food initiatives – to build collective power to address sustainability and food security challenges. However, in-depth explorations of the dynamics and potentials of local food systems in differing socio-institutional environments are still lacking. This research addresses this gap by investigating the constitution of local food systems in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, and Preston, England, and how internal and external processes affect the delivery of potential outcomes.
In order to ground this research focus, the study introduces a conceptual framework to analyse local food systems: a political food systems approach for food sovereignty, combining a food systems approach, urban political ecology and food sovereignty. The importance of this framework relies in its analytical attention to process-outcome interactions, multi-scalar dynamics, and power relations, which this study demonstrates are crucial considerations to analyse local food systems. To implement this framework, the research project adopts a case study methodology constituted of semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis.
The analysis of findings identifies three critical aspects to advance integrated local food systems for food sovereignty. First, the findings illustrate the relevance of a systemic view of food that prioritises people’s lived experiences of injustices and the collective construction of territories to address current discrepancies within local food systems. Second, this study highlights the need to accept diversity within local food systems and promote spaces of deliberation for the reflexive construction of collective visions. Finally, the findings illustrate the relevance of balancing top-down and bottom-up strategies in urban food governance processes, which should facilitate intrinsically transformative practices by enacting food sovereignty principles. The thesis ultimately proposes three main strategies that could help achieve this: politicising local food systems, embedding reflexivity, and promoting co-production.