Urban food governance in times of crises. Insights from Toronto

Abstract

This paper explores how phases of crisis and post-crisis affect urban food movements and their governance arrangements. Through the analysis of the Toronto food movement trajectory, this paper shows the effects of disruptive times, by analyzing the socio-political tensions that crises trigger. Doing so, the paper demonstrates how, while socio-economic instabilities, health emergencies, political shifts and similar crisis-factors, destabilize urban food movements, crises can also be breeding ground for social and governance innovations to emerge. Thus, when strategically navigated, crisis-junctures can help to open up new spaces of action and to reposition the role of food in the urban agenda.