Food governance

Research on diversity in food governance are coordinated by the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Trento. This work package aims at:

• Identifying diversity in policy interventions to favour sustainable resource efficient food production, distribution and consumption across the participating countries and at different levels (national, regional and local).
• Mapping food system actors and activities in selected regions/contexts to develop an in-depth understanding of how contextual factors and governance approaches contribute to shape food systems as well as actors’ capacity to collectively act to promote more sustainable and integrated forms of production, distribution, and consumption.

We explore the different governmental policy interventions as well as citizens’ and movements’ local demand for organic food to foster sustainable food systems. We compare the diversity of policy interventions at different levels (national, regional and local) through document analysis and key informant interviews. Based on this information, WP4 investigates the composition and relational structures of actors in different food systems by means of social network analysis to reveal differences in power and influence vis-à-vis resource exchange. Further, we analyse the ties between organisations and political authorities at different territorial levels to establish the potential of the various food organisations as important players in the system of local food governance.