Embedding sustainable diets into urban food strategies: A multi-actor approach

• Published in: Geoforum 2021-06, Vol.122, p.11-21
• Main Authors: López Cifuentes, Marta, Freyer, Bernhard, Sonnino, Roberta, Fiala, Valentin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cities; Democratization; Diet; Embedding; Food; Food systems; Healthy food; Local government; Multi-actor approach; Policy making; Sustainability; Sustainable diets; Urban food policy; Urban food strategies; Urbanization
• ISSN: 0016-7185; 1872-9398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.03.006

•Soft-systems approach identifies place-based peculiarities of urban food systems.•A multi-actor approach supports the development of sustainable urban food strategies.•Local specificities affect food systems’ capacity to include sustainable diets.•Food strategies need to engage with multi-scalar processes.•Integrating the views of local actors fosters the democratization of food policies. Urbanization processes have been accompanied by a shift towards diets that have placed increased pressures on the environment and human health. City governments are increasingly striving to address these challenges through a policy focus on “sustainable diets”. Using the example of the city of Vienna (Austria), this paper adopts an innovative multi-actor approach to unpack the complexities involved in the implementation of the core principles of sustainable diets. The analysis of data collected through semi-structured interviews and focus groups with key urban food system actors identifies place-based peculiarities and drivers of change that are not yet discussed within debates on urban food. As we conclude, there are important methodological implications emerging from our findings for both policy-makers and researchers interested in the design, implementation and evaluation of urban food strategies that contribute to democratizing the food system.