City Research Online

Abstract

Ongoing debates on the importance of creating a more inclusive and democratic food governance context have widely emphasised the potential of “food policy councils” as multi-actor alliances that cut across science, policy and society. Building on empirical insights about the variety of initiatives and arrangements designed to include all residents in the governance of food systems, in this paper we use the expression “food policy networks” (FPNs) and focus on their names to explore the linguistic and symbolic dimensions through which different organisations present and legitimate themselves. Data collected through extensive Internet searches and 67 semi-structured interviews with representatives from different types of FPNs globally show that names serve not only as identifiers but also as indicators of organisational identity, values and strategic orientations–and the ways in which these might change over time. As our analysis highlights, embedded in the FPNs’ names are not just different levels of formality but also different approaches to stakeholder representation, collaboration and legitimacy. The next phase of research will have to interrogate this diversity, we conclude, to enhance understanding of participatory governance arrangements and, crucially, of their capacity to progress a democratic agenda for food systems.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2026 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 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 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.
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 > Department of Population Health & Policy
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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