Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Local food policy'

The distance between farms and cities and the limited access that some residents have to fresh foods can be detrimental to a city's capacity to feed people over time. This study addressed the under-studied topic of urban farming as a secondary food source, specifically by exploring the opportunities and limitations of urban farming in a large Northeastern city. Brundtland's food policy was the pivotal theory supporting food production to end global starvation, and was the link between environmental conservation and human survival. The research question for this study examined the potential food policy opportunities and limitations that assist urban farms as a supplemental food source. Twenty stakeholders from the public (6), nonprofit (7), private (3), and academic (4) sectors formed the purposeful snowball sample in this case study. Data were collected through open-ended interviews, which were then subjected to an iterative and inductive coding strategy. The significant finding of this study is that while food policy supported urban farms as a secondary food source in a way consistent with Brundtland's theory, local food alone was inadequate to feed its urban population. Other key findings revealed that food policies that influenced land use, food production, and procurement presented unique challenges in each sector. Existing food production policies such as zoning regulations, permitting processes, and public funding benefited one sector over another. The study contributes to social change by exploring food policies that encourage partnerships between sector stakeholders; urban, rural, and suburban farmers; and city residents that foster alternative and sustainable food production in the urban setting.

Across the US, support is ever-growing for the local food movement. This growing trend promotes food security, supports farming families, ensures universal access to safe and healthy food products, enhances local economies, and encourages environmental and social well-being. People around the US are implementing sustainable local food systems as a means of meeting their individual community’s needs. While this movement is being popularized dramatically around the world, many cities and regions have yet to address it. This study reviews the existing literature on local food system models in an effort to answer the research question: What are the “ingredients” of a healthy local food system? The local food system of Owensboro, KY was analyzed via interviews with key players in its food system. In addition, experts in this field at the state level were also interviewed to understanding the functions of and the degree of support for local food systems in KY. Recommendations were then made for the city of Owensboro on how to further enhance its local food system into one of greater vibrancy and overall health.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-44).
This thesis is an exploration into how New York City can incorporate local food system planning into their existing sustainability program by capitalizing on recent energy and grassroots initiatives. I argue for the importance of local and regionally produced food as a part of food system sustainability, and propose that food issues be addressed at the local level. In order to learn how food planning transforms from a social and advocacy movement and into policy, I compare food policy initiatives in Chicago, San Francisco, and Vancouver. My analysis of each city's food program reveals their shared aspiration to provide affordable, accessible, and fresh food with few adverse environmental impacts. Each city's strategies are the product of local conditions, interests, and political culture. I recommend that as the New York City government looks towards coordinating food policy, these precedents illustrate the necessity of tailoring urban food policy practices to suit local conditions, community culture, and needs. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of nascent food policy efforts while suggesting roles for policy makers, community groups, and citizens in New York City.
by Deborah Helaine Morris.
M.C.P.

The modern global agrifood system has had significant negative impacts on consumers and producers. This has precipitated the rise of local food systems that are purported to improve the health and livelihoods of consumers and producers. High expectations have led to significant public and private resources dedicated to the development of local food systems. Despite this, there has been little systematic research exploring the social and institutional conditions that facilitate or frustrate local food system development. Using a comparative case study approach, this study explored the ways local structural conditions, collective action, food system policies, and the political context affect the development of local food systems. Findings suggested truly robust local food system development requires either collective action or public policies and are more likely to exist and be successful depending on the political climate and the balance of power between land use interests in the community.

Calls for an integrated food policy to tackle the new fundamentals of the food system have been regularly made by academics, policymakers, the food industry and civil society for over a decade in many countries but, despite some changes, much of the old policy framework remains entrenched. This gap raises questions about why policy innovation has proved so difficult. This study responded to that research problem through a qualitative, interpretivist comparative study of how two countries attempted to improve their policy integration, via two specific policy integration projects: the UK’s Food Matters/Food 2030 process (2008-2010) and Australia’s (2010-2013) National Food Plan. It applied a conceptual framework fusing historical institutionalism and the public policy integration literature, focusing on the policy formulation stage. Fieldwork was conducted in both countries, including interviews with key informants; and publically-available documents about the policy projects and broader policy systems were analysed. The findings suggest the two policy projects represent a food policy shift from single-domain ‘policy taker’, towards multiple domain ‘policy maker’, but both fell short of what might be classed as ‘integration’ in the literature. The research identifies how tensions between domains are sidestepped, and makes broader propositions around how multiple values and goals co-exist in this contested policy space, and the need for improved value agreement capacity. It also highlights a general lack of focus on integration as a process. It explores how the legacy of historical fragmented approaches, plus political developments and decisions around institutional design, and a more general trend of hollowing out of national government, impact on how integrated food policy can be formulated in a particular country setting. It therefore proposes an emerging ‘institutionalist theory of food policy integration’, conceptualising the dimensions of integration, and multiple institutional influences on integration attempts.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Sydney, 2002.
Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 24, 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Health to the Dept. of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine. Includes bibliography. Also available in print form.

This thesis explores the potential for food policy groups in England to render the food environment within their local areas more sustainable and resilient. The main question it addresses is how institutional norms, values and practices affect food policy groups’ capacity to pursue their aims. The research is informed by earlier literature identifying factors that shape the governance context within which a food policy group operates. It finds that institutions affecting food policy groups reside in four locations: within groups, between groups and their local authorities; within the local context; and within the multilevel governance context. The study design is five case studies: the London Food Programme; the Islington Food Strategy; the Bristol Food Policy Council; Manchester Food Futures; and the County Durham Sustainable Local Food Strategy. These were selected to have diversity in: local government structure; location of the group vis-à-vis local government; and progress towards a food strategy. Data collection was through document analysis, direct observation, and semi-structured interviews. The analysis shows the importance of food policy groups purposively determining and articulating institutions for efficiency and to foster actor agency to overcome constraints. Groups try to align their institutions with organisations they seek to influence in order to boost legitimacy and influence policy efficiently. Despite the dynamism of food policy groups and the difference they make in the lived experience of local areas, at present they are not prompting major change in the over-all food system configuration. This research applies new institutionalism to the study of local level food policy for the first time, enabling insights into how institutional factors affect capacity. It contributes new perspectives to the new institutionalist literature on agency and institutional change. The research is the first coherent exploration of the capacity of English food policy groups. It provides an evidence base to guide local food policy groups to be cognisant of contextual factors as they adopt structures and practices to maximise their impact.

Masters of Commerce
Despite having a significant agri-food sector, South Africa is faced with strong food security issues related to high inequalities and the legacy of the apartheid regime. The South African food system finds itself at risk of alienating the majority of its citizens from realizing their right to access food granted by the South African Constitution (1996) Section 27(1)(b). Increasing poverty, unemployment and poor governance are making it harder for ordinary South African citizens to put safe and nutritious food on the table. Part of the food security issue in South Africa is that there is an inefficiency in public policies. It can be explained by the extreme segmentation of public action between departments and also by the limitations and ineffectiveness of decentralization resulting in little to no involvement from local governments. Like most socio-economic issues, the effects of food insecurity are first experienced on the ground at the local level where municipalities are at the forefront. The absence of effective policy around food security and food systems at the local level in South Africa leaves room for research on improved local food governance. Municipalities should be best suited to understand the consequences of food insecurity and could therefore use some of their constitutional mandate which provides some room for manoeuvre with regard to food issues. The aim of this study is to raise awareness of food security issues at the municipal level and to identify ways to facilitate engagement by municipalities. Its main objective was to adopt a foresight approach, using scenarios with local actors, and to understand how it can help improve the engagement of municipalities and citizens in the food security debate and take possible action. This research has made use of an existing collaboration between the Centre of Excellence in Food Security (CoE-FS) and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) developed in the Western Cape. The collaboration focuses on the understanding of the food policy space in South Africa, the results of existing policies, and how the co-production of knowledge between stakeholders, notably at the local level, can contribute to policy improvement.

The potential role of local government in NSW to address public health nutrition issues has received encouraging reports. This treatise deals with the question of whether intersectoral collaboration theory is useful to assist development of a relationship with local government to develop food and nutrition policy. Intersectoral collaboration theory describes six conditions necessary for successful action: necessity, opportunity, capacity, relationships, planned action, and sustained outcomes. The project was a feasibility study carried out in a densely populated and multicultural local government area in Sydney's southwest during April 1998. Eight Council employees and one elected representative were interviewed using the semi-structured questionnaire to collect a range of opinions and knowledge about Council's involvement in a food and nutrition policy. Conceptual frameworks for the study included the Ottawa Charter and the food and nutrition system. Theoretical underpinning's were provided by intersectoral collaboration theory and organisational change theory. Using intersectoral collaboration theory, analysis of the interviews revealed that participants were very concerned with conditions of necessity, opportunity and capacity to develop food and nutrition policy. Intersectoral collaboration theory correctly predicted that the action proposed would have to assist Council to achieve their core business, gain social and political support and be possible within the current economic environment and level of other resources available. Participants were not able to identify how a food and nutrition policy would meet these conditions and be feasible within the current capacity of the organisation, and therefore did not become fully engaged in the feasibility study. The health sector needs to develop arguments for local government involvement from their perspective. Organisational change within the heath sector is required to develop capacity for intersectoral partnerships, as an effective strategy to address public health nutrition issues.

The potential role of local government in NSW to address public health nutrition issues has received encouraging reports. This treatise deals with the question of whether intersectoral collaboration theory is useful to assist development of a relationship with local government to develop food and nutrition policy. Intersectoral collaboration theory describes six conditions necessary for successful action: necessity, opportunity, capacity, relationships, planned action, and sustained outcomes. The project was a feasibility study carried out in a densely populated and multicultural local government area in Sydney�s southwest during April 1998. Eight Council employees and one elected representative were interviewed using the semi-structured questionnaire to collect a range of opinions and knowledge about Council�s involvement in a food and nutrition policy. Conceptual frameworks for the study included the Ottawa Charter and the food and nutrition system. Theoretical underpinning�s were provided by intersectoral collaboration theory and organisational change theory. Using intersectoral collaboration theory, analysis of the interviews revealed that participants were very concerned with conditions of necessity, opportunity and capacity to develop food and nutrition policy. Intersectoral collaboration theory correctly predicted that the action proposed would have to assist Council to achieve their core business, gain social and political support and be possible within the current economic environment and level of other resources available. Participants were not able to identify how a food and nutrition policy would meet these conditions and be feasible within the current capacity of the organisation, and therefore did not become fully engaged in the feasibility study. The health sector needs to develop arguments for local government involvement from their perspective. Organisational change within the heath sector is required to develop capacity for intersectoral partnerships, as an effective strategy to address public health nutrition issues.

This thesis investigates the ways in which local food has increasingly been seen as an integral part of rural development, and explored the increasing interest in local food from academics, policy-makers, businesses and consumers. The overall question which the research attempts to address is what steps can policy makers take to establish sustainable local food networks, particularly in areas with a traditional background in intensive agriculture specialising in commodity production? These issues were investigated in two case study areas of the East Riding of Yorkshire, UK and the Abruzzo region, Italy using in-depth interviews with policy makers, businesses and focus groups with consumers. The East Riding of Yorkshire is an intensive commodity producing area, the type of area often assumed to be devoid of local food initiatives, while the Abruzzo is largely mountainous and remote, the type of area often assumed to be ideal for local food networks. Both areas are engaged in the EU’s LEADER rural development programme and are working to support local food networks. Theorisations of policy processes and policy making as rational and logical have been supplanted by conceptualisations which aim to adopt a more nuanced approach that accounts for the messy and chaotic worlds described by research participants. This research contributes to the corpus of work which sees policy makers act subjectively, drawing on their own interests and beliefs in driving forward some policy goals whilst ‘ignoring’ other themes. A new ‘model’ of policy making is proposed in response to earlier models which present policy as rational, linear and ordered. This new ‘model’ represents policy processes as complex, non-linear and messy. Policy practices are fluid and elusive, further complicated by the absorption and loss of ideas and initiatives through processes of policy transfer, translation, ‘leaching’, negotiation and implementation. As such, this research has produced an alternative, and perhaps more effective, representation of policy making. Furthermore, the research suggests that notions of the ‘rural’ as being ‘idyllic’ are renegotiated and reproduced contemporaneously. The rural idyll influenced the imaginings of the role played by different rural areas in producing ‘local’ food. Policy makers, businesses and consumers all talked about the ‘rural’ as idyllic. This was not only in comparison to urban areas but contrasts were also identified between different rural areas. As a result, this research indicates that the concept of the rural idyll needs to be further fragmented to take account of the relational nature of rural areas. The research concludes that ‘effectiveness’ is an intangible concept, for it suggests an approach to policy-making that can be universally applied to all places, and which will result in ideal policy outcomes. In practice, for many people even talking about policy is complex and contested. More realistically policies need to be customised to suit specific local circumstances. ‘Policy/ies’ are in a constant state of churn, and cannot be easily ‘measured’ or ‘benchmarked’. This complexity of ‘policy’ itself is overlain by the opacity of concepts of ‘local’ food and rural development. Specificity and situatedness are important in understanding the ways that different areas and different people understand and apply these terms. The research thus challenges some of the assumptions frequently made about the ‘success’, or otherwise, of local food systems and rural development. The research was undertaken as part of an ESRC-CASE studentship in partnership with the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Taking into account the limitations of official approaches for addressing agri-food research, as well as their associated policies to tackle the problems of hunger and vulnerability of agri-food systems to global change, it becomes necessary to consider new frameworks and alternative policies for research and management of agri-food systems. With this thesis we contribute to the advances of agri-food research by rethinking the way of conceptualizing the agri-food system and by designing and testing analysis tools capable to link the research process with the management dynamics found in the local territory. We focus our attention on those linked to the political paradigm of food sovereignty. To achieve this objective we adopted a deductive and inductive method of research, organized in three phases. During the first phase, and under the wider umbrella of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, we developed a conceptual and theoretical framework which integrates systemic thinking and development studies capable to analyze the political paradigm of food sovereignty. For this purpose, we linked the approach focused in the analysis of socio-ecological systems (SES) with the vulnerability approach focused in the analysis of actors¿ dynamics. As a result, we have obtained an integrate framework that address the ecological and social dimensions of agri-food systems. During the second phase, we tested the framework developed in an empirical case study of a local agri-food system of the canton of Loja, located at the Southern Ecuadorian Andean region. The case is of particular interest due to the recent consideration of comunas and barrios as basic units for citizen participation within decentralized autonomous governments; and, the parallel process of creation of new collective action organizations, such as the recently conformed Agroecological Network of Loja (RAL). Using empirical data obtained from a survey conducted between December 2013 and March 2014 based on questionnaires to households (N = 116) and interviews to key informants (N = 14). We analyzed the role of social and institutional factors on the local agri-food system configuration taking into account the pillars of food sovereignty within the analysis. The results showed the significant, but differentiated, role of institutions (Agroecological Network of Loja), social groups (Saraguro indigenous culture) and income generation strategies on the agri-food system configuration. During the third phase, we assessed the future vulnerability vs resilience of local agri-food system through a participatory scenario development process. Using data obtained from semi-structured interviews (N = 14 and N = 25) and two workshops we analyzed the future trajectories of transformation for the local agri-food system under multiple ecological, socio-economic and political drivers of change. Four scenarios were envisioned by local actors. This assessment showed how drivers of change can affect different components of the local agri-food system when it is conceptualized as SES; and, how different perspectives contribute to build different future trajectories of active transformation. Overall, the results of the research process emphasize the role played by actors (understood as an intersectional group where gender takes meaning from its intersection with ethnicity and class) and novel institutional arrangements action to star the active transformation of agri-food systems in the marginal Andes. These findings have implications in agri-food systems policy design at local level, where the local peasant initiatives of social innovation have to be seen as potential mean to achieve the materialization of the political paradigm of food sovereignty within Andean agri-food system.
Frente a las limitaciones tanto de los enfoques oficiales para la investigación agroalimentaria como de las políticas asociadas para abordar el problema del hambre y la vulnerabilidad de los sistemas agroalimentarios al cambio global, se hace necesario considerar nuevos marcos de análisis y políticas alternativas para el estudio y la gestión de los sistemas agroalimentarios. Con este trabajo de tesis nos proponemos contribuir al avance de la investigación agroalimentaria repensado la forma de conceptualizar el sistema agroalimentario y diseñando herramientas de análisis que vinculen el proceso de investigación con las dinámicas de gestión encontradas en el territorio local, enfocándonos en aquellas vinculadas con la soberanía alimentaria. Para alcanzar este objetivo hemos realizado un proceso (inductivo y deductivo) bajo el paraguas de la sociología de la agricultura y la alimentación, que hemos llevado a cabo en tres fases de investigación. Durante la primera fase, hemos desarrollado un marco teórico y metodológico que integra el pensamiento sistémico y estudios del desarrollo bajo el paradigma político de la soberanía alimentaria. Con este fin hemos vinculado el enfoque centrado en el análisis de los sistemas socio-ecológicos (SES) con el enfoque de vulnerabilidad centrado en el análisis de la dinámica de los actores. Como resultado hemos obtenido un marco integrado que aborda las dimensiones ecológica y social de los sistemas agroalimentarios, tal y como lo requiere el paradigma político de la soberanía alimentaria. Durante la segunda fase, hemos aplicado empíricamente el marco desarrollado en el sistema agroalimentario del cantón Loja, ubicado en los Andes del sur de Ecuador. Este caso de estudio es de particular interés debido a la reciente consideración de las comunas y barrios como unidades básicas para la participación ciudadana dentro de los gobiernos autónomos descentralizados; y, paralelamente, a la creación de nuevos procesos de acción colectiva, como la Red Agroecológica Loja (RAL). Usando datos empíricos obtenidos de cuestionarios a hogares campesino (N = 116) y entrevistas en profundidad a informantes clave (N = 14), realizada entre diciembre de 2013 y marzo de 2014, analizamos el rol de los factores sociales e institucionales sobre la configuración del sistema agroalimentario integrando dentro del análisis los pilares de la soberanía alimentaria. Este análisis mostró el rol significativo, pero diferenciado, de las instituciones (Red Agroecológica Loja), grupos sociales (cultura indígena Saraguro) y las estrategias de generación de ingresos para dar lugar a la configuración del sistema agroalimentario local. Durante la tercera fase, evaluamos la vulnerabilidad vs resiliencia del sistema agroalimentario local mediante un proceso de análisis de escenarios participativos. Hemos analizado las futuras trayectorias de transformación del sistema agroalimentario local bajo múltiples conductores de cambio (de tipo ecológico, socio-económico y político) mediante el análisis de datos obtenidos a partir de entrevistas semi-estructuradas (N = 14 y N = 25) y dos talleres. Los actores locales visionaron cuatro posibles futuros escenarios. Nuestra evaluación muestra cómo los conductores de cambio afectan los diferentes componentes del sistema agroalimentario local cuando se lo conceptualiza como SES; y, cómo las diferentes perspectivas de los actores construyen diferentes trayectorias para la transformación activa del sistema. En general, los resultados del proceso de investigación enfatizan el rol que desempeñan los actores (entendido como un grupo interseccional donde el género se concibe a partir de su intersección con la etnicidad y la clase) y los nuevos arreglos de acción institucional para iniciar la transformación activa del sistema agroalimentario en los sectores marginales andinos.

Le récent développement de politiques alimentaires dans les territoires relève d’une innovation de l’action publique locale dont les modalités de construction et de mise en œuvre ont cependant peu été étudiées. En effet, les politiques alimentaires locales sous-tendent avant tout des choix politiques informant tant les changements poursuivis en termes de régulation locale de l’alimentation au sein des systèmes alimentaires territoriaux, que les stratégies de légitimation des acteurs publics qui en sont porteurs. Cette thèse analyse les coulisses de la construction et de la mise en œuvre d’une politique alimentaire intégrée départementale, en prenant comme cas d’étude celle du Conseil départemental de la Gironde (CD33). En appliquant une nouvelle grille d’analyse constituée au croisement de trois littératures - approche par les interdépendances, travail politique et intégration dans les politiques publiques, la thèse éclaire le travail politique mené par les acteurs départementaux dans les étapes de problématisation et d’instrumentation de la stratégie alimentaire girondine et interroge les effets de cette action publique locale sur le système alimentaire local ainsi qu’au sein du Département. Pour ce faire, ce travail s’appuie sur une immersion de plus de trois ans au sein de l’Agenda 21 départemental, du fait d’un conventionnement Cifre, ayant permis la constitution d’un matériau de recherche composite, constitué d’une observation participante, associée à l’analyse d’une littérature grise et complété par deux séries d’entretiens. L’analyse donne à voir les modalités et les processus de la fabrique de la politique alimentaire intégrée girondine sur quinze ans, entre 2008 et 2023. Elle met en lumière que le travail politique en termes d’interdépendances mené par les acteurs départementaux – dont l’influence varie – est sans cesse renouvelé, amenant à distinguer quatre cadrages cognitifs à travers quatre politiques alimentaires départementales avec leurs propres configurations d’acteurs, leurs propres arbitrages en termes d’interdépendances et leurs propres niveaux d’intégration. Autrement dit, durant ces quinze années, le CD33 ne s’est pas saisi de l’alimentation avec une vision constante et il n’y a pas associé les mêmes objectifs. A travers ces cadrages, la thèse éclaire de nombreux aspects de la « boîte noire » de la fabrique de la stratégie alimentaire intégrée girondine : les jeux d’acteurs entre sphères politique et administrative, les arbitrages faits entre domaines d’intervention publique, la variation des postures du CD33 lorsqu’il s’agit d’amener du changement dans le système alimentaire et sa régulation, et plus généralement, les stratégies du CD33 pour se légitimer au sein de l’échiquier politique. Finalement, l’analyse met en lumière des imbrications entre policy, politics et polity dans la fabrique de la stratégie alimentaire du CD33 et permet de conclure sur un mouvement perpétuel de bascule entre politisation et dépolitisation du fait alimentaire au gré de l’évolution des cadrages cognitifs, de la définition des objectifs (visée transformative ou affichage politique), des relations interterritoriales (relais ou opposant à l’Etat ; coopérations ou évitement), des reconfigurations d’acteur au sein même du Département (influence des acteurs administratifs et politiques) ou encore des évolutions dans la posture prise par le Département (logique de guichet, animateur, expérimentateur, etc.). Finalement, la thèse informe sur la construction d’une politique alimentaire intégrée instable, dont les éléments constitutifs sont sans cesse remodelés, et par laquelle il est donné à voir que la régulation locale de l’alimentation n’est pas tant l’objectif poursuivi par l’acteur public en tant que tel, mais plutôt un moyen participant d’une stratégie plus globale de légitimation d’un Département se positionnant continuellement comme un acteur intermédiaire
Despite the fact that local food policies are seen as an innovation in local public action, nevertheless their construction and implementation have received little study. Indeed, local food policies underpin, above all, political choices that inform both the changes pursued in terms of local regulation of food within territorial food systems, and legitimisation strategies led by public actors which support them. This thesis takes a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at the construction and implementation of an integrated departmental food policy, using the Gironde Departmental Council as a case study. Applying an original conceptual framework which brings together three literatures: i) an interdependency approach, ii) political work and iii) policy integration, the thesis sheds light on the political work carried out by departmental players during the problematisation and instrumentation stages of the Gironde food strategy, and examines the effects of this local public action on the local food system as well as within the department. To this end, this work is based on an immersion of more than three years within the departmental Agenda 21 mission, due to a Cifre thesis contract, which enabled the constitution of a composite research material made up of participatory observation, the analysis of grey literature, and two series of semi-structured interviews. An analysis based on interdependencies shows how the integrated food policy for the Gironde was developed over a fifteen-year period, between 2008 and 2023. It highlights the fact that the political work in terms of interdependencies carried out by departmental actors - whose influence varies - is constantly renewed. It also allowed us to distinguish four cognitive frameworks leading to four ‘types’ of departmental food policies, each with their own configurations of actors and their own arbitrations in terms of interdependencies - and hence their own levels of policy integration. In other words, over the last fifteen years, the Department of Gironde has not approached food with a consistent vision and has not associated the same objectives with it. Through identifying and exploring these different framings, the thesis sheds light on many aspects of the 'black box' of the Gironde integrated food strategy: the interplay of actors between political and administrative spheres, the trade-offs made between areas of public intervention, the variation in the Department's positions when it comes to bringing about change in the food system and its regulation, and more generally, the Department's strategies for legitimising itself within the political arena. Finally, the analysis of political work carried out by the players around different types of interdependency (e.g. territorial, public/private, knowledge) highlights the interweaving of policy, politics and polity in the creation of the Gironde Departmental Council's food strategy. We consequently conclude that there is a perpetual shift between politicisation and depoliticisation of the food issue as a result of changes in cognitive frameworks, the definition of objectives (transformative aim or political display), inter-territorial relations (in alliance with or opposing the State ; cooperation or avoidance), reconfigurations of players within the Department itself (influence of administrative and political players) or changes in the stance adopted by the Department (front-office approach, facilitator, experimenter, etc.). Finally, the thesis provides new knowledge on the construction of an unstable integrated food policy, whose constituent elements are constantly being reshaped, and through which it is shown that local regulation of food is not so much the objective pursued by the public actor as such, but rather a means of participating in a more global strategy of legitimisation of a Department continually positioning itself as an intermediary actor

I det här examensarbetet undersöks policy och nätverksstruktur för REKO-konceptet – ett sätt för små livsmedelsproducenter att genom Facebook samordna försäljning direkt till slutkonsumenter. Uppsatsen diskuterar REKO som ett samtidsfenomen påverkat av stora trender som den digitala omvandlingen av samhället och en allt längre livsmedelskedja. Den beskriver och diskuterar hur policy skapas och sprids i ett platt nätverk utan formell beslutsfattning. Analysen av policyn visar vidare att ”enkelhet” är en fokalpunkt i nätverket, vilket är laddat med olika värde beroende på ställning i nätverket. Arbetets netnografiska underlösning beskriver och analyserar nätverksstrukturen ur olika aktörsperspektiv – vilket visar att då REKO syftar till att uppnå olika mål för dess aktörer kan det gestaltas annorlunda beroende på aktörsperspektiv. Arbetet sätter även fenomenet REKO i en allmän teknokulturell kontext där internet och dess sociala medier får en allt större betydelse för människan.
This bachelor level thesis examines policy and network structure for the Swedish food distribution network called REKO. A network which matches local producers with consumers through Facebook. The thesis discusses REKO as a cotemporally example of technoculture under influence of trends such as the digital transformation of social life and longer distances between producer and end consumer. The thesis also describes and discuss how policy is made and recreated in a flat network without legal bodies. The policy analysis shows how “simplicity” is a focal point loaded with different meanings and goals. In the nethnographic part of the study describes the shifting shape of the network. Lastly the thesis puts REKO in a general technocultural context where internet and social media still gets a bigger role for humanity.

Efforts to maintain a relationship to food pathways have been consistent throughout U.S. history despite the general evolution towards an increasingly industrialized food system. Urban agriculture serves as a means of reclaiming and furthering knowledge of where food comes from while also addressing larger social, economic, and environmental goals. This has been demonstrated in Chicago where urban farmers have worked to improve food access, increase employment, and revitalize communities all across the city. For many years, federal policies have promoted maximum production of commodity crops and kept supermarket prices low, allowing the government to ignore the impacts these policies are having on local economies, the environment, and public health. State and municipal policies have been similarly unsympathetic to any efforts to subvert the industrial food system. However, the individuals and organizations working to promote urban agriculture in Chicago demonstrate how community activism can break through these obstacles, and create fertile ground for the movement to grow. Chicago is recognized as a national leader in the urban agriculture movement, and the city is becoming an increasingly accommodating place for urban agriculture to thrive. In this thesis I describe the progress some of these urban farmers have made in Chicago, and emphasize how community engagement and support has played a crucial role in achieving this progress; I also discuss obstacles that have prevented the movement from attaining certain goals; and explore the implications of what it would mean for agriculture to change the landscape of a city.

Foodborne illness is a serious and preventable public health problem affecting 1 in 6 Americans with cost estimates over $50 billion annually. Local health departments license and inspect restaurants to ensure food safety and respond to reports of suspected foodborne illness. The City of St. Louis Department of Health adopted the HealthMap Foodborne Dashboard (Dashboard), a tool that monitors Twitter for tweets about food poisoning in a geographic area and allows the health department to respond. We evaluated the implementation by interviewing employees of the City of St. Louis Department of Health involved in food safety. We interviewed epidemiologists, environmental health specialists, health services specialists, food inspectors, and public information officers. Participants viewed engaging innovation participants and executing the innovation as challenges while they felt the Dashboard had relative advantage over existing reporting methods and was not complex once in place. This study is the first to examine practitioner perceptions of the implementation of a new technology in a local health department. Similar implementation projects should focus more on process by developing clear and comprehensive plans to educate and involve stakeholders prior to implementation.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Homeland Security and Defense))--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2005.
Thesis Advisor(s): Christopher Bellavita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-139). Also available online.

The following work analyses the socio-economic and spatial dynamics of “Matera food city-region” and tests the role of innovation model, food policies and creative processes to enhance urban and rural foodscape. The research looks for answers at some questions. The first is about dynamics and flows on Matera food city region considering involved spaces, actors and economies through a critical process that studies city and countryside. The second question moved to the necessity to define a model that is able to represent and interpret the analysed dynamics and flow, and to give back useful output. The third question works on results of previous phases and deepens analysis on Matera food city region to find enhanced possibilities and strategies for the territory. The critical reflection on the three answers makes necessary another demand. The fourth query deepens the role of multimedia platforms as tools to represent spaces and dynamics, and to provide ideas to innovate strategies for food territories. In the final part, this work gives an applicative example, proving the role of the platform Atlante del cibo Matera as a tool that creates links between involved actors and processes on Matera food city region and builds food governance. This research is articulated in three complementary phases, recognizable in the overall structure. First, the work deepens critically the theory, by the study of the role of food in urban planning in the last two decades. In this section the research provides definitions of food system, food space and food policy and introduces international and national governance processes on food. This phase introduces research theme and is the theoretical basis for later stages. The second section is a disciplinary work based on analysis on field and the reconstruction of food system by the interpretation of organizational models detected in the territory. The analysis regards the phases of food system (production, processing, distribution and consumption) on Matera food city region. In the final section, the comment of results is the basis to rebuild geographies of Matera food territories. Finally, this phase explains the application model, shared between city, university and enterprise. The application shows the working ability of Atlante del Cibo Matera in the formulation of strategies that enhanced territories by food. This work aims to shows the opportunity for Matera food city region to innovate itself by a vision that combines culture, rural landscapes, heritage and society through food. From this perspective innovation gives the tool for the implementation of interactive and heritage atlas that proposes participatory and synergic governance.
L’obiettivo di questo lavoro di tesi è studiare l’articolazione delle dinamiche socio-economiche e spaziali nella Matera food city region, e testare la capacità degli strumenti di innovazione, delle politiche del cibo e dei processi creativi nella valorizzazione dei paesaggi rurali. Il lavoro di ricerca muove a partire dalla costruzione di risposte ad un serie di quesiti che scompongono e chiarificano l’intero percorso. Il primo riguarda la riflessione sulle dinamiche e sui flussi che interessano la food city region, considerando spazi, attori e economie implicate, attraverso un approccio che esamina criticamente la città e la campagna. Il secondo quesito muove dalla necessità di definire un modello di rappresentazione consono alla restituzione delle dinamiche osservate sul territorio e capace di restituire degli output a partire dall’interpretazione critica dei fenomeni. Il terzo riflette sulle caratteristiche della Matera food city region per individuarne potenzialità da cui articolare strategie per i territori del cibo. Il commento delle risposte alle prime questioni sarà il presupposto per la formulazione di un ulteriore quesito che riguarda il ruolo che possono avere gli strumenti innovativi in questo processo, di cui si fornirà un modello applicativo condiviso tra più attori nella parte finale dell’elaborato. Questo lavoro di ricerca si compone di tre operazioni differenti e fortemente complementari, ma tuttavia riconoscibili nella struttura della tesi. La prima riguarda lo studio critico della letteratura con una ricostruzione del ruolo assunto dal cibo nel corso dell’ultimo ventennio nella pianificazione delle città e dei territori. A seguire alcune definizioni sul sistema del cibo, sulle spazialità della ricerca e sulle politiche e regolamentazioni internazionali e nazionali. L’introduzione alla tematica della ricerca sarà la base disciplinare su cui saranno presentati i quesiti, gli obiettivi, i materiali e i metodi utilizzati. In chiusura della prima parte sarà introdotto il contesto della ricerca. La seconda parte della tesi è un lavoro più disciplinare e riferisce della ricerca sul campo attraverso la ricostruzione del sistema del cibo mediante l’analisi e l’interpretazione dei modelli organizzativi riconoscibili sul territorio in termini spaziali, ma anche quantitativi e qualitativi. Il riferimento in questa fase è stato lo studio delle performance delle varie fasi in cui è stato diviso a monte il sistema del cibo (produzione e trasformazione, trasporto e distribuzione, consumo). Una tematizzazione delle fasi dell’indagine che ha chiarito le relazioni tra spazialità, attori e dinamiche e le connessioni tra i vari processi nella fase di ricostruzione complessiva del fenomeno, svolta allo scopo di restituire una interpretazione critica del processo. Nella terza parte il commento dei risultati dell’analisi consentirà di ricostruire una lettura della geografia del territorio attraverso la lente del cibo. Saranno specificate le basi su cui è stato articolato il modello applicativo condiviso tra città, università e impresa che prova ad utilizzare uno strumento innovativo per la formulazione di strategie operative capaci di valorizzare i territori in chiave cibo. Matera e la sua food city region possono riarticolarsi in una visione che combina i processi culturali e agro-forestali dei paesaggi autentici lucani con la dimensione sistemica del cibo capace di relazionare tra loro patrimoni filiere e società. L’innovazione in tal senso può fornire gli strumenti per l’implementazione di atlanti patrimoniali interattivi e in grado di proporre governance partecipate e sinergiche.

L’émergence du nouveau problème public de l’alimentation dresse les contours d’une controverse des politiques agricoles. En effet, pour « manger mieux » il faudrait d’abord « produire mieux », c’est-à-dire transformer le modèle agricole sur lequel s’adosse notre système alimentaire industriel. Cette thèse analyse la traduction, le cheminement et la portée de cette controverse à l’échelle des gouvernements infranationaux : les volets agricoles des politiques alimentaires territoriales renouvellent-ils la régulation publique locale du secteur agricole ? Pour répondre à cette question, notre enquête s’appuie sur une base de données de cent entretiens menés avec les acteurs clés de neuf politiques alimentaires locales réparties sur les territoires du Grand Est, de Bretagne et d’Occitanie. Mobilisant un cadre d’analyse à la croisée de la sociologie des problèmes publics, de l’analyse cognitive des politiques publiques et de leur territorialisation, cette thèse défend l’idée que les politiques alimentaires territoriales donnent à voir une transformation du secteur agricole, mais que celle-ci demeure marginale dans les faits. À l’échelle des gouvernements urbains, l’accession au pouvoir d’outsiders politiques de l’alimentation est porteuse de propositions alternatives pour le développement agricole local, mais les compétences et les rapports de forces internes des administrations urbaines freinent cependant considérablement la mise en œuvre opérationnelle et la portée de leur programme politique. À l’échelle régionale, les politiques alimentaires de promotion des produits locaux constituent un soutien classique du secteur agroalimentaire, sans transformation du modèle agricole promu sur les territoires. Ces politiques sont largement investies par les élites agricoles locales dont l’action oscille entre neutralisation ou accompagnement des controverses alimentaires. Nous montrons aussi que les politiques alimentaires territoriales s’inscrivent dans des stratégies de communication (marketing territorial ou marketing politique) et constituent de nouvelles ressources symboliques permettant aux autorités publiques et aux élites agricoles locales de réaffirmer leur pouvoir. Cette thèse contribue ainsi au renouvellement de l’analyse du changement politique en étudiant les nouveaux enjeux de territorialisation et de transversalité de la régulation publique
The increase of alternative food networks outline an agricultural controversy : in order to “eat better”, we should first “produce better”; which means that the agricultural model the food industry depends on should be transformed. This research addresses the way this controversy is translated into local policies and managed on a sub-national level: do agricultural components of local food policies renew the local public regulation on agriculture? To answer this question, we have built a database from one hundred interviews with key players from nine local food policies originating from different French regions : Grand Est, Bretagne and Occitanie. Thanks to an original analytical framework which draws from the studies of social problems as well as from the cognitive analysis of local policies, we were able to show that local food policies act as if the agricultural sector was undergoing changes, although these changes are, indeed, minor. On the urban government scale, when food political outsiders have access to power, they can campaign for different ways of developing agriculture, but the competencies of urban administrations and their internal power struggles largely impediment the impact and the operational implementation of such political programs. On a regional scale, the promotion of “local food” is a way to support conservative agricultural policies. Regional food policies are thus largely dominated by local hegemonic farmers’ organisations but their actions vary a great deal, from one place to another (be it channelling food controversies or overriding them). In addition, we demonstrate that local food policies become part of communication strategies (local marketing or political marketing), making them new symbolic resources of power for local authorities and agricultural elites. Thus, with this thesis, we aim to help renew the way political change is analysed, by studying the new dynamics in public regulation that local policies and integrated policies are bringing

La Policía Nacional del Perú se encuentra modernizando su red corporativa, y dentro de este proceso se halla mejorando y manteniendo en constante evolución los sistemas de información, seguridad y protección de su red. Con este propósito y como una alternativa de acceso remoto a la red de datos policial se diseña Redes Privadas Virtuales para obtener conectividad entre los locales policiales a nivel nacional, partiendo del análisis de la red de datos existente. La implementación contempla la selección de la tecnología, la adquisición, instalación, configuración de equipos y las pruebas de tráfico con los sistemas informáticos requeridos, con lo cual la VPN queda a disposición de los usuarios policiales.
Trabajo de suficiencia profesional

Climate change will impact food systems around the world by creating new ecological threats to crops and challenging the massive energy inputs required by modern industrial agriculture. The severity of these threats suggests that British Columbia's food system is unprepared for the adverse effects of climate change. The province currently produces 48% of its food requirements, much of which is allocated to export markets, and expansion of this system will be difficult as only 1% of provincial land is considered “prime” farmland. One way to prepare a food system for climate threats is to enhance the system’s resilience. A resilient system can quickly adapt to new external problems while maintaining its structure and productivity. A resilient food system is built on three important attributes: internal strength, diversity and flexibility. While there are numerous policy options to enhance resilience, this thesis focuses on role of small-scale agriculture and local food systems. This thesis will argue that provincial and local governments in British Columbia should pursue policies designed to expand small-scale food production and strengthen local food economies, as these scales of agriculture offer the most practical and politically feasible way to create a more resilient food system. To gather policy options that can achieve this goal, this thesis relies on ideas and insights gathered from sixteen interviews with a diverse group of small-scale farmers throughout B.C. These on-farm perspectives are then evaluated within the complex policy environment that impacts agriculture policy. Agriculture policy in B.C. is influenced by multiple variables, including established policies and financial investments that support large-scale and international agriculture, limited government budgets, challenging relations between provincial and local governments, and bureaucratic challenges with implementing and operating agriculture programs. Despite these challenges, there are numerous policy opportunities and partners that can help policies to support small-scale production succeed. This thesis analyses these obstacles and opportunities, and puts forward a comprehensive list of policy options organized by their political practicality.
Graduate
w.mattdell@gmail.com

Food security is an increasingly important global challenge. Population increases, coupled with changing food habits, are placing significant demand on the global food supply. Without significant advances in agricultural techniques and approaches, it will be difficult to feed the global population within several decades. Aquaculture is one underutilized agricultural method which could help alleviate this impending crisis if more farmers were able to implement improved techniques. One of the primary inputs for successful aquaculture is a nutritionally complete feed. However, commercial fish feeds may be prohibitively expensive or unavailable in many locations in the developing world, reducing the ability of farmers to implement economically successful aquaculture ventures. Providing farmers with the ability to produce their own high-nutrition feeds with locally available ingredients would be a key enabler for more widespread successful aquaculture efforts. This dissertation focuses on the development and evaluation of alternative, locally sourced, inexpensive fish feeds to maximize fish production in developing countries.

This study is an exploratory examination of the perceptions of chefs affiliated with Relais & Chateaux properties in Canada with respect to their relationships with suppliers, the importance of local ingredients in menu design, and other issues associated with their work as chefs in some of the top restaurants in Canada. Their understanding of the concept of “culinary tourism” is also explored. For the purpose of this study, culinary tourism is conceptually defined to be “any tourism experience in which one learns about, appreciates, or consumes branded local culinary resources” (Smith and Xiao, 2006, p. 4). Data for this study were obtained from three sources: (1) a closed-ended questionnaire, which inquired about acquisition, production and consumption issues associated with restaurant chefs (2) in-depth personal interviews with chefs that enabled the researcher to gain a holistic view of the role and results of chefs interaction with local food producers, and (3) a content analysis of Relais & Chateaux menus that served as a template to how chefs brand producers in their restaurants. A total of 11 chefs completed the survey and were interviewed between the months of June, 2007 and August, 2007. The comments by the chefs in the interviews were classified into 9 themes. The themes that emerged include producer relationships, producer communication, local ingredients, cuisine, restaurant staff, culinary tourism, knowledge of clientele, culinary products and Relais & Chateaux brand. The interviews resulted in a number of insights into chef relations with local food producers as well as the potential of culinary tourism as a tourism experience provided by Relais & Chateaux chefs. Chefs spend considerable time and effort facilitating relationships with local producers in order to create quality. These chefs expressed the importance of quality and relationships with local producers while highlighting the need for communication among properly trained waiters. Chefs used both menus and guests’ interaction with waiters to communicate the use of local ingredients in their restaurants. The chefs focus on local affiliations to products as a way to promote local producers. However, once relationships with a local producer are developed, some chefs maintain that relationship even if the move out of the area. Many chefs reported that increased interaction among culinary tourism stakeholders, at a regional level, was needed in order for regional producers to brand their products in the market place. With this it was recommended that bi-yearly meetings involving restaurateurs, producers, farmers and artisans is needed to better network their product offerings. In each case, the goal of the Canadian Relais & Chateaux chef is to improve upon the branding of Canadian food ingredients. The research revealed the positive impact that this group of chefs has had in promoting grass roots food products for an increasingly popular tourism market. Findings of this research suggest that chefs are involved in the production, education, facilitation and communication of local ingredients in the restaurant setting which raises issues of their role in the branding of local food ingredients for the culinary tourist in order to promote a healthy culinary tourism product. The study concludes with suggestions for further research in this area.

This mixed-methods study addresses the relationship between the availability of food and realized food access by studying the retail food landscape of Holyoke, Massachusetts – a small, socio-economically diverse city. While a large body of empirical research finds that low-income communities and communities of color are especially likely to lack adequate access to healthy foods and experience increased vulnerability to food insecurity, few studies explore urban food environments through a mixed-methods case study approach. Through the use of food store mapping, store audits, and resident interviews, this research is a nascent attempt to articulate how the unique development histories and cultural politics of urban neighborhoods affect food access. The analysis finds that local food environments in Holyoke vary by social and spatial context. The study further considers how health and stability of a community is affected by the distribution and variety of food retail stores. In particular the study articulates the constructs of race and class in the food environment via the spatial mismatch of preferred food stores, mobility challenges, and the role of small urban food stores in the context of Holyoke’s foodscape. Implications for local food security policy are discussed.

At Constitutional level, legislation in South Africa entrenches the provision of food and water for all its citizens. In instances where citizens are unable to provide in these basic requirements for themselves, social assistance should be provided to ensure a healthy life for all. In this regard, legislation and Town Planning ordinances and regulations are in place to ensure that built-up environments in which we live and work are healthy and safe for all. However, this study revealed that food provisioning by community gardeners is peripheral in legislation, ordinances and regulations and the practice of urban agriculture is, in many instances, in conflict with the principle of safe and healthy food for all. Community gardeners/urban agriculturists are food farmers within the city who produce food for themselves and others without the checks and balances that are otherwise applicable to food brought into the city from outside. While food production on any piece of available land is vital for these community gardeners for their sustenance and survival, it could become a potential health hazard if no checks or testing measures are in place to ensure that the food being produced is safe for human consumption. The study sought the views and perceptions of community gardeners, residents, Environmental Health Practitioners and Town Planners in the eThekwini Metro region with regards to community gardening/urban agriculture and its impact on food provisioning to citizens. For data collection, a one-on-one interviewing survey method was used with all four groups and results were calculated and converted to average percentages and analysed. The results revealed that there was conflict between legislation, ordinances and regulations regarding the production of food in the built-up environment of the EThekwini Municipality. It was also revealed that there was no cohesive policy to control the production of food produced and sold by community gardeners in the study area. The need for control measures and regulations regarding food production and sale by community gardeners was highlighted. Moreover, where ineffective or none such measures or controls exist, a transparent and consultative process involving all stakeholders must take place in order to establish up viable and sustainable control measures. The people who will be most affected by these rules, namely the community gardeners, should be pivotal role players in the establishment of a sustainable urban agriculture policy. Recommendations to address the problems illuminated by the study are presented.
Environmental Sciences
Ph.D. (Environmental Management)

The thesis is entitled "Aspects of drawing funds from EU sources and design funds for selected local action group". MAS is based on the LEADER program, which is funded by the Rural Development Programme (RDP). This program seeks to maintain the population in the country, and the region more attractive, both in terms of cultural or professional backgrounds, such as support of local customs and traditions. A grant from the RDP can ask all rural areas in the Czech Republic, in addition to the capital.