IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i8p2924-d164233.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Every City a Food Growing City? What Food Growing Schools London Reveals about City Strategies for Food System Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Hannah Pitt

    (Sustainable Places Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3BA, Wales, UK)

  • Mat Jones

    (Bristol Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK)

  • Emma Weitkamp

    (Science Communication Unit, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK)

Abstract

Cities have emerged as leaders in food system innovation and transformation, but their potential can be limited by the absence of supportive governance arrangements. This study examined the value of Food Growing Schools London (FGSL) as a programme seeking city-wide change through focusing on one dimension of the food system. Mixed methods case study research sought to identify high-level success factors and challenges. Findings demonstrate FGSL’s success in promoting food growing by connecting and amplifying formerly isolated activities. Schools valued the programme’s expertise and networking opportunities, whilst strategic engagement facilitated new partnerships linking food growing to other policy priorities. Challenges included food growing’s marginality amongst priorities that direct school and borough activity. Progress depended on support from individual local actors so varied across the city. London-wide progress was limited by the absence of policy levers at the city level. Experience from FGSL highlights how city food strategies remain constrained by national policy contexts, but suggests they may gain traction through focusing on well-delineated, straightforward activities that hold public appeal. Sustainability outcomes might then be extended through a staged approach using this as a platform from which to address other food issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Hannah Pitt & Mat Jones & Emma Weitkamp, 2018. "Every City a Food Growing City? What Food Growing Schools London Reveals about City Strategies for Food System Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:8:p:2924-:d:164233
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/8/2924/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/8/2924/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kevin Morgan, 2008. "Greening the Realm: Sustainable Food Chains and the Public Plate," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(9), pages 1237-1250.
    2. Ana Moragues-Faus & Kevin Morgan, 2015. "Reframing the foodscape: the emergent world of urban food policy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(7), pages 1558-1573, July.
    3. Francesco Sottile & Daniela Fiorito & Nadia Tecco & Vincenzo Girgenti & Cristiana Peano, 2016. "An Interpretive Framework for Assessing and Monitoring the Sustainability of School Gardens," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Brent Mansfield & Wendy Mendes, 2013. "Municipal Food Strategies and Integrated Approaches to Urban Agriculture: Exploring Three Cases from the Global North," International Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 37-60, February.
    5. Hannah Pitt & Mat Jones, 2016. "Scaling up and out as a Pathway for Food System Transitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-16, October.
    6. Kevin Morgan & Roberta Sonnino, 2010. "The urban foodscape: world cities and the new food equation," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 3(2), pages 209-224.
    7. Joy Carey, 2013. "Urban and Community Food Strategies. The Case of Bristol," International Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 111-128, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Warshawsky & Robert Vos, 2019. "Governing at Scale: Successful Local Food Initiatives in the World’s Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-4, December.
    2. Parsons, Kelly & Lang, Tim & Barling, David, 2021. "London’s food policy: Leveraging the policy sub-system, programme and plan," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    3. Szymon Dziuba & Anna Cierniak-Emerych & Blanka Klímová & Petra Poulová & Piotr Napora & Sylwia Szromba, 2020. "Organic Foods in Diets of Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lara V. Sibbing & Jeroen J. L. Candel, 2021. "Realizing urban food policy: a discursive institutionalist analysis of Ede municipality," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(3), pages 571-582, June.
    2. Ana Moragues-Faus & Kevin Morgan, 2015. "Reframing the foodscape: the emergent world of urban food policy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(7), pages 1558-1573, July.
    3. Moragues-Faus, Ana & Battersby, Jane, 2021. "Urban food policies for a sustainable and just future: Concepts and tools for a renewed agenda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    4. Lori Stahlbrand, 2016. "The Food For Life Catering Mark: Implementing the Sustainability Transition in University Food Procurement," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-19, September.
    5. Marielle Dubbeling & Guido Santini & Henk Renting & Makiko Taguchi & Louison Lançon & Juan Zuluaga & Luca De Paoli & Alexandra Rodriguez & Verónica Andino, 2017. "Assessing and Planning Sustainable City Region Food Systems: Insights from Two Latin American Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-15, August.
    6. Hamid El Bilali, 2019. "The Multi-Level Perspective in Research on Sustainability Transitions in Agriculture and Food Systems: A Systematic Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, April.
    7. Jeanne Pahun & Eve Fouilleux, 2022. "Organisational troubles in policy integration. French local food policies in the making," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 247-269, September.
    8. Poppy Nicol, 2020. "Pathways to Scaling Agroecology in the City Region: Scaling out, Scaling up and Scaling deep through Community-Led Trade," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, September.
    9. Mat Jones & Sarah Hills, 2021. "Scaling up Action on Urban Sustainable Food Systems in the United Kingdom: Agenda Setting, Networking, and Influence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-12, February.
    10. Giambartolomei, Gloria & Forno, Francesca & Sage, Colin, 2021. "How food policies emerge: The pivotal role of policy entrepreneurs as brokers and bridges of people and ideas," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    11. Morley, Adrian & Morgan, Kevin, 2021. "Municipal foodscapes: Urban food policy and the new municipalism," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    12. Doernberg, Alexandra & Horn, Paula & Zasada, Ingo & Piorr, Annette, 2019. "Urban food policies in German city regions: An overview of key players and policy instruments," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Alison Blay-Palmer & Roberta Sonnino & Julien Custot, 2016. "A food politics of the possible? Growing sustainable food systems through networks of knowledge," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(1), pages 27-43, March.
    14. Koen Gaast & Jan Eelco Jansma & Sigrid Wertheim-Heck, 2023. "Between ambitions and actions: how citizens navigate the entrepreneurial process of co-producing sustainable urban food futures," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(3), pages 1287-1302, September.
    15. Sara A. L. Smaal & Joost Dessein & Barend J. Wind & Elke Rogge, 2021. "Social justice-oriented narratives in European urban food strategies: Bringing forward redistribution, recognition and representation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 709-727, September.
    16. Kassis, Grâce & Bertrand, Nathalie, 2022. "Institutional changes in farmland governance emerging from a collective land preservation procedure upholding local food projects: Evidence from a French case study," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    17. Parsons, Kelly & Lang, Tim & Barling, David, 2021. "London’s food policy: Leveraging the policy sub-system, programme and plan," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    18. Fabíola Sostmeyer Polita & Lívia Madureira, 2021. "Transition Pathways of Agroecological Innovation in Portugal’s Douro Wine Region. A Multi-Level Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, March.
    19. Carijn Beumer, 2017. "Sustopia or Cosmopolis? A Critical Reflection on the Sustainable City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-14, May.
    20. Bernd Bonfert, 2022. "Community-Supported Agriculture Networks in Wales and Central Germany: Scaling Up, Out, and Deep through Local Collaboration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:8:p:2924-:d:164233. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.