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

Kirwan, James ORCID: 0000-0002-4626-9940 and Maye, Damian ORCID: 0000-0002-4459-6630 (2013) Food security framings within the UK and the integration of local food systems. Journal of Rural Studies. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2012.03.002

Preview

Text Kirwan and Maye 2013_Local Food Networks_pre-publication copy.pdf Download (187kB) | Preview

Abstract

This 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 multi-organizational political field. The notion of incompleteness and fragility is highly pertinent to an examination of debates about the contribution that local food systems can make to food security within the UK, suggesting that the "official" interpretation of food security can be challenged to be more inclusive and to accommodate social justice imperatives. Adopting this more holistic perspective broadens UK definitions of food security beyond the quantity of food available to encompass the needs of communities, households and individuals, offering a more transformative and progressive role for local food systems, notwithstanding the significance of asymmetrical power relations

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	REF2014 Submission. Local food systems, Food security, Scale, Collective action frames, The UK
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > Countryside and Community Research Institute
Research Priority Areas:	Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User:	Debi Jones-Davis
Date Deposited:	11 Apr 2014 13:27
Last Modified:	03 Feb 2022 18:00
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/485

University Staff: Request a correction | Repository Editors: Update this record