Alternative voices in building a local food policy: Forms of cooperation between civil society organizations and public authorities in and around Toulouse

Abstract

The ongoing debate in Europe on urban food supply is currently rescaling local food policies. New actors are now taking part in this debate, including urban public authorities and civil society organizations involved together in shaping local food governance. The objective of this paper is to describe their involvement and their cooperation. This article presents and utilizes a relational framework to analyze the involvement of civil society organi- zations together with public authorities in the design of actions for urban and peri-urban food production and consumption. It considers the positions these organizations could adopt toward public authorities. In the area of Toulouse, the fourth largest city in France, 18 people were interviewed from seven civil society and three public organizations. The data showed an enhanced participation of the civil society in urban food governance. Three types of civil society organizations were identified: community organizations, professional associations, and an advisory board. They develop several forms of cooperation to public policies. Considering also the relationships they adopt with one another, it was possible to highlight the interplay of proximity and distance that enable them to work with and for public organizations while preserving the specificities of their own project.