What Can Be: Stakeholder Perspectives for a Sustainable Food System

Abstract

Any multistakeholder initiative that aims to build the basis for change in a food system, regardless of geographic scale, requires an understanding of what is important to stakeholders, how they view the boundaries of the system, and what changes they feel are needed. An assessment of stakeholder perspectives of the Phoenix Valley food system was conducted as an initial step in a process of food system coalition-building. The objectives of the research were to explore how active participants in the food system visualized a "sustainable food system" and to juxtapose their perspectives on food system sustainability with those in the academic literature to create an initial picture of food sustainability. Respondents emphasized the importance of education, local food, reducing

Developing a community-based local food system in Will County, Illinois: insights from stakeholders' viewpoints

“…Stakeholders demonstrated a willingness and a strong commitment to translating their values and viewpoints into collective actions and policy solutions. These observations are, to some degree, consistent with previous agri-food stake-holder behavior analyses (Benson et al, 2012;Garcia-Gonzalez & Eakin, 2019) and alternative and transformative food future studies (Balvanera et al, 2017;Sellberg et al, 2020). These studies stressed the importance of understanding the policy's local context complexity and accounting for the socioecological conditions in which food systems are embedded before transforming them.…”

“…Finally, the tensions and conflicts, based on differences in scale, power, values, or conflicting value frames, still characterize the stakeholders in the dominant, industrialized agri-food system and continuously create a disconnect between community interests and local government policies (Lobao & Stofferahn, 2008). Shifting conventional food systems, which are inherently global and connected by complex webs of information, goods, services, and capital, to local trajectories is primarily a challenge for governance (Garcia-Gonzalez & Eakin, 2019). As Ostrom (2011) puts it, governance can be defined by stakeholders (e.g., actors and organizations) who manage resources and establish clear guidelines and management rules before putting them into practice.…”

“…Many authors cite the efficacy of stakeholder assessments in mapping complex situations with multiple stakeholder groups to provide insights into the stakeholders' values and viewpoints (Campbell & Rampold, 2021;Garcia-Gonzalez & Eakin, 2019;O'Brien & Denckla Cobb, 2012;Saint Ville et al, 2017;Sanyé-Mengual et al, 2016;van den Hove, 2006). This approach explains the responsibilities of organizations and individuals who play significant roles within the system (Reed et al, 2009).…”

“…Despite the increasing use of stakeholder assessments in studies on the transition towards localism in food systems (Bassarab et al, 2019;Benson et al, 2012;Cumming et al, 2019;Freedgood et al, 2011;Garcia-Gonzalez & Eakin, 2019;Gupta et al, 2018;Hammelman et al, 2020;Kaufman, 2007), there are few detailed studies on specific programs or policies developed at the county level (Low et al, 2015;Walsh et al, 2015). This paper aims to bridge this gap by examining the perspectives and viewpoints of stakeholders about establishing a local food system in Will County (Illinois), which is located in the vicinity of the third-largest city in the United States, Chicago, with agriculture and the food industry being the primary local economic development drivers in the area.…”

Facilitating Aligned Co-Decisions for More Sustainable Food Value Chains

“…Traditionally, these chains are what sociotechnical transition theory calls dominant regimes [13], where major brands or retailers drive other actors to adopt practices and processes that give the food products sustainable characteristics [14]. However, more collaborative approaches are emerging from new partnerships within value chains (VCs) [15][16][17]. These collaborative approaches are at the heart of the codesign of work means and practices as defined in the concept of coupled innovation [18].…”