Food policy integration in small cities: The case of intermunicipal governance in Lucca, Italy

Food and food security are not areas where municipalities have roles prescribed by law; nonetheless, they are responsible for a range of overlapping services and functions related to food. Competences for policymaking are divided across many different departments, local authorities, and agencies whose functions involve multiple actors, and both scholars and policymakers have called for a more integrated approach to food policies and for cities to play a prominent role in addressing food system challenges through new, place-based, and carefully crafted governance systems. In this study, we examined a unique case study and process that led to the establishment and further development of the first intermunicipal food policy (IFP) in Italy, called Piana del Cibo (literally Plain of Food), a governance arrangement through which five municipalities within the province of Lucca (in the Tuscany region, central Italy) reach out beyond their administrative and functional boundaries. Despite the food policy agenda in Lucca being currently underway, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the possible pathways of policy integration and of the implications of such processes in small cities, highlighting potential enablers and obstacles to integration. The findings indicate that the governance structure currently tested is an institutional unicum in the Italian food policy landscape and is shaped as joint management of food policy functions (gestione associata) combined with an elaborate structure of participatory governance. The presented case study illustrates how a process of (food) policy integration should be understood as processes entailing different and mutually interacting dimensions. It also showcases a set of factors that can reveal potential enablers and obstacles in such processes.

Automated summary

Food and food security do not fall under the jurisdiction of municipalities by law, but they are responsible for a range of services and functions related to food. This study emphasizes the need for an integrated approach to food policies and for cities to play a prominent role in addressing food system challenges through new governance systems. It presents a unique case study of an intermunicipal food policy in Italy, highlighting the potential enablers and obstacles to policy integration in small cities.