Emerging processes of territorial food systems governance: lessons from a local food action plan in Sheffield, UK

Innovations in food policymaking and governance are increasingly emerging from the local level. This article reflects on an action research project to develop a local food action plan in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, UK, as both a networked food systems governance process and as a complementary form of local food policy. The article provides a structured reflection on the process of developing the action plan. The discussion finds that the local food action plan exemplifies a grounded, networked approach to local food governance that productively blurred the boundaries between state and non-state actors. However, the process only partially succeeded in delivering territorial food policy that is both socially and ecologically sensitive. This reflection recognises how the development of the plan potentially reproduced pre-existing dynamics of exclusion in the city. This experience suggests that local food action plans can be powerful and effective forms of territorial food systems governance under specific conditions that will vary significantly with context.