City Research Online

Abstract

Innovations in food policymaking and governance are increasingly emerging from the local level. This article reflects on an action research project to develop a local food action plan in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, UK, as both a networked food systems governance process and as a complementary form of local food policy. The article provides a structured reflection on the process of developing the action plan. The discussion finds that the local food action plan exemplifies a grounded, networked approach to local food governance that productively blurred the boundaries between state and non-state actors. However, the process only partially succeeded in delivering territorial food policy that is both socially and ecologically sensitive. This reflection recognises how the development of the plan potentially reproduced pre-existing dynamics of exclusion in the city. This experience suggests that local food action plans can be powerful and effective forms of territorial food systems governance under specific conditions that will vary significantly with context.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Publisher Keywords:	Action research; food systems; governance; local food policy; territory; Sheffield.
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences School of Health & Medical Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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