Public policy

Borough

Agriculture

Food systems

Transformative learning

Metropolitan area

Archaeology

Pedagogy

Food security

Economics

Politics

Geography

Political science

Sociology

Framing (construction)

Public administration

Economic growth

Food Policy

This paper explores the role of food policy at the municipal level because municipalities are assuming a growing role in food policy reform. Adopting a framework of municipal foodscapes, we set out an embedded case study of the Oldham Educational Catering service, located within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. Through this prism we consider the potential of a foundational economy approach to embed food more firmly in the civic remit and highlight the role of new municipalism in enacting this approach in the public domain. To illustrate these arguments, we argue that the public plate, particularly the provision of school meals, offers an important way to stimulate transformative food agendas at the municipal level. To progress this political agenda, however, multilevel action is needed at national and regional levels as well as within municipalities themselves to stimulate sustainable foodscapes. Recognising the foundational status of food, as illustrated by its criticality during the Covid-19 pandemic, can lead to more progressive and consequential food policy reform.

Municipal foodscapes: Urban food policy and the new municipalism