Organisational troubles in policy integration. French local food policies in the making

Abstract

To better understand policy integration dynamics, this paper analyses the early implementation of three urban food policies in France (Montpellier, Rennes, Strasbourg). A key challenge of food policies is their intersectoral nature, while policy design is usually meant to be sectoral. This article seeks to understand both levers and brakes to the implementation of effective integrated policies at the urban level. To explore the making and “everydayness” of the three policy case studies, we collected empirical data based on a multi-faceted methodology comprising a wide review of the grey literature, 29 in-depth interviews, and several series of participant observations on the ground. Our analysis indicates that dedicated organisational resources, including assigned units, trained staff and appropriate financial resources, are keys to the deployment of integrated food policies. We argue that such organisational resources should be more systematically studied in the policy integration literature. Local food policies should also be assessed more critically by putting the organisational resources they receive into perspective with the massive use the local government can make of them for communication purposes.

Food justice: processes, practices and perspectives

“…And then on a local level in several western countries, the institutionalisation of food as a tool of governance of transitions in areas became the stage to spread the 'sister' notions of food justice in food policies, along with 'food democracy' and 'food solidarity'. These notions often constitute the social axis of food policies such as the PAT (Projets Alimentaires Territoriaux) in France (Pahun & Fouilleux, 2022). They represent one way of taking food inequalities into account, even if PATs often reduce the issue to a matter of food accessibility.…”

Gouverner l’agriculture localement ? La capacité politique des collectivités territoriales sur la régulation du secteur agricole

“…Afin de fournir un ordre de grandeur, le tableau 2 récapitule, pour l'exemple de la région Bretagne, la surface agricole et le nombre d'exploitants que compte chaque type de collectivité territoriale étudié : Aux questions techniques agronomiques ou environnementales, s'additionnent les aspects légaux de gestion du foncier agricole ou ceux de la gouvernance multiniveaux mêlant cadre national et directives européennes. Pour opérationnaliser leurs orientations stratégiques en matière de développement agricole, au sens de traduire en instruments de politique publique ces orientations, les collectivités territoriales ont besoin de ressources internes parmi lesquelles : des services dédiés, du personnel qualifié et des budgets appropriés(Pahun et Fouilleux, 2022). Ces éléments sont déterminants dans la capacité politique des collectivités territoriales pour au moins trois raisons.…”