Organisational troubles in policy integration. French local food policies in the making

Abstract

To better understand policy integration dynamics, this paper analyses the early implementation of three urban food policies in France (Montpellier, Rennes, Strasbourg). A key challenge of food policies is their intersectoral nature, while policy design is usually meant to be sectoral. This article seeks to understand both levers and brakes to the implementation of effective integrated policies at the urban level. To explore the making and “everydayness” of the three policy case studies, we collected empirical data based on a multi-faceted methodology comprising a wide review of the grey literature, 29 in-depth interviews, and several series of participant observations on the ground. Our analysis indicates that dedicated organisational resources, including assigned units, trained staff and appropriate financial resources, are keys to the deployment of integrated food policies. We argue that such organisational resources should be more systematically studied in the policy integration literature. Local food policies should also be assessed more critically by putting the organisational resources they receive into perspective with the massive use the local government can make of them for communication purposes.