Finding Our Way to Food Democracy: Lessons from US Food Policy Council Governance

Karen Bassarab, Jill K. Clark, Raychel Santo and Anne Palmer
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Karen Bassarab: Center for a Livable Future, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
Jill K. Clark: John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Ohio State University, USA
Raychel Santo: Center for a Livable Future, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
Anne Palmer: Center for a Livable Future, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA / Department of Health, Behavior and Society, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA

Politics and Governance, 2019, vol. 7, issue 4, 32-47

Abstract: Food policy councils (FPCs) are an embodiment of food democracy, providing a space for community members, professionals, and government to learn together, deliberate, and collectively devise place-based strategies to address complex food systems issues. These collaborative governance networks can be considered a transitional stage in the democratic process, an intermediary institution that coordinates interests not typically present in food policymaking. In practice, FPCs are complex and varied. Due to this variety, it is not entirely clear how the structure, membership, and relationship to government of an FPC influence its policy priorities. This article will examine the relationship between an FPC’s organizational structure, relationship to government, and membership and its policy priorities. Using data from a 2018 survey of FPCs in the United States by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future paired with illustrative cases, we find that an FPC’s relationship to government and membership have more bearing on its policy priorities than the organizational structure. Further, the cases illustrate how membership is determined and deliberation occurs, highlighting the difficulty of including underrepresented voices in the process.

Keywords: collaborative governance; food democracy; food policy council; membership; participatory democracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:poango:v7:y:2019:i:4:p:32-47

DOI: 10.17645/pag.v7i4.2092

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