LIST OF PANELS

Food safety, food security, environmental sustainability and health are the main challenges for food policy; a field of study at the crossroad of social, environmental and health programmes. In the last years, these topics have become progressively more relevant, punctuated by spikes of attention due to repeated crises. The mad cow disease in the late 1990s made food safety a EU priority. Soon after, the 2005-2008 food-price crisis gave rise to major protests and social unrest in multiple cities, revealing the lack of resilience of production and consumption systems. Finally, the present covid-19 emergency is creating new social fragilities and an ensuing food security crisis. More ordinary and long-term problems are not missing either, such as non-communicable diseases related to bad dietary habits and the environmental damages from food production and consumption.

Shortly put, food problems abound and new solutions are in order. From the early productivist paradigm aimed at supporting production to lower prices through public subsidies, governments are now experimenting across the whole range of government tools: economic incentives, regulations, new services, education, communication and nudges. This effort at policy design happens at multiple scales, from the local to the international level, in a political arena characterised by conflicting interests, a major role for private business in shaping consumers’ preferences, issues related to scientific decision-making, and the rise of new forms of participation and mobilisation by citizens.

The growing centrality of food as a policy problem and the recent acceleration in experimenting with food programmes by governments invite policy analysts to engage in a deeper investigation of food policy. The goal of the panel is to discuss social, environmental and health programmes related to food with a specific interest to their design, implementation and evaluation. Regarding social food policies, we are interested in food security programmes, with a special attention to the recent pandemic crisis: the consequences of covid-19 for food security and the design and implementation of emergency food programmes. Concerning environmental food policy, the panel will deal with the circular economy of food – preventing food surplus, encouraging food redistribution, recycling and reuse – and with public programs and private initiatives that deal with the overall environmental impact of food production and consumption. The discussion of health-related food programmes will be the final focus of the panel, with special regard to those programmes reorienting consumers’ nutritional habits – from the more typical education and awareness campaigns to more recent behavioural interventions.

We invite contributions on social, environmental and health-related food programmes. Papers analysing the policy process, the design and the implementation of those programmes are welcome. Overall, we invite contributors to take an evaluative eye by investigating what works and drawing lessons in order to improve the effectiveness of food interventions. We welcome both academics and practitioners to share their research and experience. The aim of the panel is to provide an opportunity for discussing and taking stock of the more recent innovations in food policy worldwide and to strengthen a network of policy scholars working on the topics of food. The most likely outlet for the conference contributions will be a special issue or an edited book.