Values-based food systems: the role of local food partnerships in England

Abstract This paper outlines the concept of values-based food systems building on the related idea of values-based food chains (VBFCs), terms which are definitionally diffuse but which cohere around a common commitment to environmental sustainability and social justice. The paper examines the development of four multi-stakeholder local food partnerships in Birmingham, Bristol, Rotherham and Sheffield—and the national Sustainable Food Places network to which they are affiliated. Based on our collaborative research with these organizations and a review of their public statements, the paper identifies the values that guide their work. The paper then draws on the evidence of a series of workshops which revealed some of the challenges the partnerships face as they seek to put their values into practice, focusing on governance issues (and related funding challenges) and the implementation of equity, diversity and inclusion policies. Our findings show that the partnerships’ work is consistent with the concept of values-based food systems though they do not use the term themselves. Our research also shows the range of work being undertaken by these local food partnerships with much in common but also some significant divergence in their activities. The paper concludes with some reflections about scale and the differences between our English case studies and earlier work on VBFCs in the US.