Building Sustainable Urban Futures: The Crucial Role of Urban Food Policy = Construire un avenir urbain durable : le rôle crucial de la politique alimentaire urbaine = Aufbau einer nachhaltigen urbanen Zukunft: Die entscheidende Rolle der städtischen Ernährungspolitik

Urban Food Policies are valuable instruments that cities use to address the multidimensional challenges of food security, food safety and sustainability in urban contexts. As urbanisation continues, these policies offer targeted solutions, involving coordinated efforts by city governments, civil society and stakeholders, and promoting local sustainability and resilience. They are implemented in four types, including substantive (e.g. schools' canteens and food hubs), regulative (e.g. food safety and hygiene standards on street vendors), fiscal (e.g. tax on sugary beverages), and informative interventions (e.g. campaigns promoting sustainable food practices). As cities expand, they face important issues, such as food access disparities, rising malnutrition, environmental degradation and food waste accumulation. Urban Food Policies can go beyond traditional national policies, incorporating targeted interventions that address and account for the specific issues of urban life. The main key objectives are: ensuring food security and safety, preserving biodiversity and reducing pollution in urban and peri-urban food systems, food waste management, healthy and sustainable diets, safeguarding cultural identity. However, their effectiveness depends on robust multi-level governance, collaboration and political will, targeting the local objectives in line with Sustainable Development Goals. Urban Food Policies' contribution can enable cities to address current and future food-related challenges in a holistic way.