ABSTRACT
In this chapter we argue that there is a crisis of institutions and of governance – that curious English word that refers to the science and practice of government – over what to do about food and health. Governance, according to Richards and Smith, ‘is generally a descriptive label that is used to highlight the changing nature of the policy process in recent decades. In particular, it sensitizes us to the ever-increasing variety of terrain and actors involved in the making of public policy. Thus, governance demands that we consider all the actors and locations beyond the “core executive” involved in the policy-making process.’1 This chapter sets out to detail the wider terrain and actors involved in food governance, not least where the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ of food policy-making is located. In this respect we argue that there needs to be more room for what we call ‘food democracy’ within the more centralized food governance environment currently in place.2
