Just and Sustainable? Examining the Rhetoric and Potential Realities of UK Food Security

MacMillan, Tom; Dowler, Elizabeth

doi:10.1007/s10806-011-9304-8

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…However, for this to happen it will be necessary for food security to be framed in more holistic, inclusive, dynamic and diversity-receptive terms, which includes acknowledging the role local food systems can play in ensuring food security, especially in relation to individuals and communities who may currently be socially excluded in some way, or suffer from food poverty (see e.g. Dowler et al, 2001;MacMillan and Dowler, 2011). So far this repositioning is not reflected in government thinking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this respect, advocates of local food systems are unequivocal in arguing that they have an important part to play in ensuring food security and resilience within the UK's food supplies. Nevertheless, for their significance to be acknowledged, the notion of food security needs to focus more on the micro-level and the needs of communities, households and individuals (rather than simply at a national level), and to recognise those who might be facing food poverty (MacMillan and Dowler, 2011). In so doing, it can then encompass more than simply access, availability and affordability, including also the social and cultural acceptability of certain types of food, as well as education about the nutritional value of food, thereby helping to foster social inclusion and indeed social justice (Dowler et al, 2001;SDC, 2011).…”

Section: Local Food Systems and Food Security: Boundaries And Permeabmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Food security, which re-emerged in international discourse to frame responses to the 2007-2008 food price spikes and related anxieties about global climate change and key resource pressures (Ambler-Edwards et al, 2009;MacMillan and Dowler, 2011), is more usually connected with market-based solutions and a technological approach to a global food crisis (Beddington, 2010;Foresight, 2011;Horlings and Marsden, 2011). Such narrow interpretations of food security and the global food crisis have negative implications for the role and development of local food systems; although more holistic interpretations potentially provide significant opportunities for the latter to make an active contribution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It operationalises Mooney and Hunt's (2009) conceptualisation of food security as a consensus frame, arguing that the interdependency between scale and framing in food security discourse warrants close scrutiny. This includes considering the implications of broadening UK definitions of food security beyond the quantity of food available to encompass the needs of communities, households and individuals in relation to issues of micro-level capacity building (Middlemiss and Parrish, 2010) and social inclusionsomething that has only rarely been considered in the past (Dowler et al, 2001;MacMillan and Dowler, 2011). The rest of the paper is structured as follows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food security framings within the UK and the integration of local food systems

Kirwan

Maye

2013

Journal of Rural Studies

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DisclaimerThe University of Gloucestershire has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights.The University of Gloucestershire accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR TEXT.This is a peer-reviewed, pre-print version of the following published document: DisclaimerThe University of Gloucestershire has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights.The University of Gloucestershire accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement.PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR TEXT. Note: This is a pre-publication copy of the paper which was submitted and published in Journal of Rural Studies (2013, Vol 29, pp. 91-100) 2 Food security framings within the UK and the integration of local food systems AbstractThis paper provides a critical interpretation of food security politics in the UK. It applies the notion of food security collective action frames to assess how specific action frames are maintained and contested. The interdependency between scale and framing in food security discourse is also scrutinised. It does this through an examination of 'official' UK food security approaches and the place of local food systems within these debates. The paper shows how the UK government's approach to food production and food security has been underpinned by the notion of resilience, which it considers is best achieved through sustainable intensification, market liberalisation and risk management, with local food systems largely sidelined within these 'official' framings. Nevertheless, collective action frames are socio-political constructs which are open to contestation; they are not static entities and are part of a mobile multiorganizational political field. The notion of incompleteness and fragility is highly pertinent to ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Local Food Systems and Food Security: Boundaries And Permeabmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food security framings within the UK and the integration of local food systems

Kirwan

Maye

2013

Journal of Rural Studies

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“…In critiquing these documents, MacMillan and Dowler (2012) acknowledge the shifts in UK policy discourse in the context of international research, policy and initiatives to promote food security. Food safety, consumer choice, nutrition, and authenticity are particularly prominent within policy and media (with the press devoting considerable space to recent food scares and diet), as are reducing waste and increasing productivity whilst reducing environmental impacts.…”

Section: A Focus On the Uk Food Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Priority research questions for the UK food system

et al. 2013

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The rise of food security up international political, societal and academic agendas has led to increasing interest in novel means of improving primary food production and reducing waste. There are however, also many 'post-farm gate' activities that are critical to food security, including processing, packaging, distributing, retailing, cooking and consuming. These activities all affect a range of important food security elements, notably availability, affordability and other aspects of access, nutrition and safety. Addressing the challenge of universal food security, in the context of a number of other policy goals (e.g. social, economic and environmental sustainability), is of keen interest to a range of UK stakeholders but requires an up-to-date evidence base and continuous innovation. An exercise was therefore conducted, under the auspices of the UK Global Food Security Programme, to identify priority research questions with a focus on the UK food system (though the outcomes may be broadly applicable to other developed nations). Emphasis was placed on incorporating a wide range of perspectives ('world views') from different stakeholder groups: policy, private sector, nongovernmental organisations, advocacy groups and academia. A total of 456 individuals submitted 820 questions from which 100 were selected by a process of online voting and a three-stage workshop voting exercise. These 100 final questions were sorted into 10 themes and the 'top' question for each theme identified by a further voting exercise. This step also allowed four different stakeholder groups to select the top 7-8 questions from their perspectives. Results of these voting exercises are presented. It is clear from the wide range of questions prioritised in this exercise that the different stakeholder groups identified specific research needs on a range of post-farm gate activities and food security outcomes. Evidence needs related to food affordability, nutrition and food safety (all key elements of food security) featured highly in the exercise. While there were some questions relating to climate impacts on production, other important topics for food security (e.g. trade, transport, preference and cultural needs) were not viewed as strongly by the participants.

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