A new institutionalist analysis of local level food policy in England between 2012 and 2014 Jessica Jo Halliday Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Food Policy Centre for Food Policy Department of Sociology, City University London August 2015 1 THE FOLLOWING PARTS OF THIS THESIS HAVE BEEN REDACTED FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS: p 94: London Borough map. p 135: Greater Manchester map. p 157: Bristol area map. p 178: County Durham map. [This page is intentionally left blank] 2 Table of contents Table of contents .............................................................................................................................. 3 Table of figures and tables ............................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... 9 Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Acronyms ....................................................................................................................................... 12 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 15 1.1 Emergence of local level food policy ......................................................................... 15 1.1.1 Outlining a shared vision of local food policy groups ........................................ 18 1.2 Governance drivers of local food policy ..................................................................... 23 1.2.1 The shift to governance ....................................................................................... 23 1.2.2 Food governance gaps ......................................................................................... 25 1.3 Subject and scope of research ..................................................................................... 27 1.4 Thesis structure ........................................................................................................... 28 2 The English context ............................................................................................................... 31 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 31 2.2 UK food provisioning snapshot .................................................................................. 31 2.3 English food policy emergence and overview ............................................................ 34 2.3.1 Planning .............................................................................................................. 39 2.3.2 Public procurement ............................................................................................. 40 2.3.3 Food in schools ................................................................................................... 41 2.3.4 Waste ................................................................................................................... 42 2.4 Local government in England ..................................................................................... 44 2.5 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 50 3 Local food policy groups ....................................................................................................... 51 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 51 3.2 What are food policy groups? ..................................................................................... 51 3.3 Conceptualising the potential of food policy groups .................................................. 54 3.3.1 Structure and organisation of the food policy group ........................................... 56 3.3.2 The group’s location and relationship to local government ................................ 58 3.3.3 The local level (horizontal) governance context ................................................. 59 3.3.4 The multi-level (vertical) governance context .................................................... 60 3.3.5 Identifying the research problem ........................................................................ 61 3 3.4 Theoretical framework ................................................................................................ 61 3.4.1 Conceptualising food policy groups .................................................................... 62 3.4.2 New institutionalist theory ................................................................................... 63 3.5 Research questions ...................................................................................................... 69 3.6 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 70 4 Research design and methods ................................................................................................. 71 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 71 4.2 Research design ........................................................................................................... 71 4.3 Literature review ......................................................................................................... 74 4.4 Case study design ........................................................................................................ 76 4.4.1 Multiple holistic case studies ............................................................................... 76 4.4.2 Alternative case study designs considered .......................................................... 80 4.4.3 Case study selection............................................................................................. 81 4.4.4 Ensuring a robust design ...................................................................................... 83 4.5 Data collection ............................................................................................................. 85 4.5.1 Document analysis ............................................................................................... 85 4.5.2 Direct observation................................................................................................ 87 4.5.3 Interviews ............................................................................................................ 88 4.6 Data analysis ................................................................................................................ 89 4.7 Ethical considerations .................................................................................................. 91 4.8 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 92 5 The London Food Programme ................................................................................................ 93 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 93 5.2 Context and background .............................................................................................. 93 5.2.1 Greater London context ....................................................................................... 93 5.2.2 The London Food Programme ............................................................................. 95 5.3 Enablers and barriers ................................................................................................. 101 5.3.1 Structures and operations ................................................................................... 101 5.3.2 Multilevel framing ............................................................................................. 108 5.4 Summary .................................................................................................................... 112 6 Islington Food Strategy Partnership ..................................................................................... 115 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 115 6.2 Context and background ............................................................................................ 115 6.2.1 London Borough of Islington context ................................................................ 115 6.2.2 The Islington Food Strategy Partnership ........................................................... 116 4 6.3 Enablers and barriers ................................................................................................. 120 6.3.1 Structures and operations .................................................................................. 120 6.3.2 Multilevel framing ............................................................................................ 127 6.4 Summary ................................................................................................................... 131 7 Food Futures Manchester ..................................................................................................... 133 7.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................