Nourishing the city: The rise of the urban food question in the Global North

TLDR

The urban food question is rising on the Global North political agenda as the end of the cheap food era fuels nutritional poverty in European and North American cities. The article investigates the rise of the urban food question in the Global North, examining theory, policy, and political practice, and questions whether this signals a new social movement. It analyzes how the food system is framed in urban planning, urban political ecology, and community food security, and maps the emergence of urban foodscapes linked to urban agriculture and public health.

Abstract

The urban food question is forcing itself up the political agenda in the Global North because of a new food equation that spells the end of the ‘cheap food’ era, fuelling nutritional poverty in the cities of Europe and North America. This article explores the rise of the urban food question in the Global North through the multiple prisms of theory, policy and political practice. First, it explores the theoretical ways in which the food system is being framed in urban planning, urban political ecology and community food security. Second, it charts the rise of new urban foodscapes associated with urban agriculture and public health. Finally, it identifies a new urban food politics and asks if this constitutes a new social movement.