Four imported ingredients for edible cities – How food strategy benefits cities

Over the past decade, cities and municipalities around the world have woken up to their strategic and guiding role in the construction of a sustainable, fair and resilient food system as part of the green transition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression, food security, both in Finland and elsewhere in the world, has raised new and increasing concerns. Discussion on food resilience and the city’s role in preparedness in different disruptions in society has increased. 

Regional food strategies are important for promoting sustainable development, welfare and economic vitality. A well-designed food strategy and a programmatic approach improve local food security, promote environmental protection and support local economies. 

In early summer 2024, the Urban&Local – Future Food Ecosystem project arranged excursions where participants learned more about the food strategies of different cities and how the ecosystem approach to the food transition has been implemented in Europe. Destinations included Birmingham, Warsaw and Amsterdam. The project also participated in the annual meeting of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP), which attracted representatives from 39 cities in 18 countries. MUFPP is an international pact and network aimed at promoting information sharing between cities, encouraging the exchange of practices and learning between cities party to the pact. More than 260 cities have signed the pact globally. Vantaa and Tampere are the only Finnish cities that have joined the network and signed the pact in 2024. 

The project collected lessons learned on how cities use and utilise their food strategies. 

1. Food is a goal across sectors and all cities share the sustainability transition

Europe’s metropolises share the challenge of food being a joint goal across city sectors. However, the need for the sustainability transition in the food system has been collectively identified in cities. Although there is no shared vision of the food system organisation model, the means of implementing the sustainability transition, such as the ideal organisation of short and local food chains, and distribution models, it is clear that the sustainability transition is about breaking away from the unsustainable functions and practices of the present. 

European city administrations have developed integrated and programmatic approaches in the steering of food policy strategies. Multidisciplinary activities and links with cities’ other activities help food policy move from the strategic dimension to practice. It is also commonplace for food development to be targeted at the entire metropolitan area. 

According to Amsterdam’s Food Policy Officer Jaëla Arian, the Amsterdam food policy office established in 2023 works closely with different sectors to implement projects and other functions. They also work in close cooperation with the local economic development department to support businesses and the production and consumption of sustainable food, in particular. For example, the city cooperates with the Amsterdam Urban Farming Academy to increase the consumption of locally produced food both in the private and public sector. 

The annual meeting of the Urban & Local Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) was held in Warsaw in May 2024 with representatives from 39 cities in 18 countries. Image: City of Warsaw

2. Food resilience: preparedness and food security in improving the readiness of cities

The Warsaw meeting included plenty of discussion about how urban food systems could increase resilience in the face of the threats posed by climate change. Examples were found in northern Italy, where the City of Milan has been faced alternately with floods and drought and the impact of this on food distribution. Milan Food Policy Director Andrea Magarini described how the mere fact that the city knows which resources it may have at its disposal in exceptional situations is an important first step in crisis management. He gave an example of a situation where a fire had occurred in one of the city’s food service centres and how the city’s food industry was able to support the transfer of activities to other units because they already knew the contact persons and the resources of the units. This prevented the interruption of food distribution to residential care homes. The urban food strategy supports things like the national security of supply strategy and can improve efficiency in situations where rapid assistance is needed. 

The most important feature of a resilient food system is the ability to adapt. The key perspective is whether cities are creating a future or just adapting to it? What kind of future do cities want to build? 

In Warsaw, we also looked at wastelands in the city being developed for the production of food.

3. Urban food strategy builds local economy through public procurement 

Cities can use public procurement criteria for food and food services to influence the local economy, farming methods and land use, security of supply, nutrition, the environment and animal welfare. 

Copenhagen is an excellent example of a city that has reached sustainability targets through public procurement and supported local food production. Copenhagen has set a target that 90% of all food acquired by public kitchens should be organic. By 2019, it had reached a target of 84%. They supported the price of organic food by, for example, using less meat (but better quality), using more lentils and legumes to diversify food, and reducing food waste, which reduced overall costs. By being more specific with food procurement, they enhanced the supply chain and generated less food waste. 

City of Copenhagen Chief Procurement Officer Betina Bergmann Madsen explained how they tried to reach small producers through different solutions and quality criteria. She highlighted dialogue with wholesale dealers as a key factor. They are able to make accurate purchases because they know how wholesale and vendors operate and what is available at any given time. They work together to implement changes and strive for a win-win situation.

Finland also has examples of sustainable public food procurement. A relatively new model enabled by the Public Procurement Act, the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), is suitable for municipalities and cities with the particular aim of increasing the use of small producers’ products, local food or organic products in public food services. The procurement system has been piloted in locations such as Oulu and Huittinen, and instructions on the procurement of local and organic food can be found in the guidebook published by Motiva.

We visited food aid organisations in Birmingham and learned how networked cooperation with the city benefits everyone.

4. Socially sustainable food system

The Urban & Local team visited the City of Birmingham to learn more about their food strategy and work carried out in the city. Birmingham approaches the fair and sustainable food system from the point of view of systemic thinking, where food is a unifying approach to complex topics such as social segregation and homelessness, but also to the city’s overall living comfort and attractiveness. 

Birmingham is the third poorest large city in England, where 46% of children live below the poverty line. Food aid is necessary in the city and the city has an active third sector. City of Birmingham Food Policy Team Leader Sarah Pullen explained how her team has promoted networked operations and taking measures such as helping bring aid organisations together. She also described how her team’s employees volunteered in the soup kitchen to distribute food and assemble food bags, which also built trust with different stakeholders and residents. In this way, they were not only present to observe and learn from the residents, but involved in the activities and making a difference in a genuinely visible way. Food provides a natural interface for building trust because it is a theme that touches everyone. 

Food has been identified as a major contributor to the green transition in cities and municipalities. The role of food needs to be recognised more widely, as opposed to just as consumer goods and services, such as the presence of attractive restaurants. The city’s role as a consumption centre and client directly and indirectly influences the structural change in primary production, the green transition. Cities’ food strategies are a way of steering public funds sustainably so that they support livelihoods, sustainability goals and resilience. The food strategies of cities and municipalities are naturally linked to carbon neutrality and sustainability targets. The creation of an urban food strategy is a multi-stage process requiring careful planning, broad cooperation and constant monitoring.

Photos: Forum Virium Helsinki