ABSTRACT
In 2017, the Canadian federal government began a multi-stakeholder process to develop a food policy for Canada. This chapter serves as a cautionary example for policymakers and demonstrates the potential challenges experienced in multi-stakeholder processes. One of the biggest contributors to the collapse of such processes is the failure to develop a clear problem definition of the policy issue being discussed. To show this, critical frame analysis is applied to examine four Canadian non-state food strategies and how they problematize sustainability in the Canadian food system. Sustainability as a consensus frame is a concept that generally resonates with everyone but can also be framed differently by actors leading to differing policy solutions. In order to develop successful food policy for Canada, a clear and common understanding of sustainability in the food system and as part of the food policy problem is vital.
