The social, economic, and environmental values that drive many urban agriculture activities should be reflected in policy content and in the choice of tools through which policy is implemented. Developing successful urban agriculture policies for Burlington requires identifying 1) the values and needs of different stakeholders, and 2) how to best govern activities with policies that meet the needs of stakeholders without undermining the values the inspire many urban agriculture activities. In addition to these
considerations, policies must be politically feasible and possible within current resource constraints. In this chapter I propose a theoretical framework that links values, urban agriculture activities, and outcomes as a basis for developing policy. Below I discuss these principles and how they relate to my research questions.
At its best, public policy arises from community values, thereby reflecting the social norms and collective interests articulated by a community (J. M. Berry, Portney, &
Thomson, 1993).11 It is a premise of responsive democratic governance that policies that reflect community values will best serve the community and be respected, understood, and followed. Policies that do not reflect community values will be resented, resisted, and ignored, leading to potential social instability and costly conflict.
When community values shift as a result of new social priorities and norms, policy needs to adapt. In this way, the process of policy development will never be
“done”—it is an evolving and ongoing process of competing interests and ideas (Stone,
11 At its worst, public policy arises from the will of a very influential minority at the expense of the larger community, environment, and justice, as is the case with regulatory capture and the type of corruption that can occur at all levels of government.
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2002). The process of changing municipal policy to accommodate urban agriculture is in this way a response to a changing culture. One challenge in policy design is the
aggregation of diverse interests to the level of the community values. For example, historically, an urbanizing population interested in distancing itself from farming considered the city an inappropriate place for farm animals. However, recent interest in food relocalization has reoriented urban residents to be more accepting of farming activities in proximity to where people live, including support for urban livestock production.
The current policy of many cities, including Burlington, does not yet intentionally incorporate the social, environmental, and economic values that motivate many of its residents to grow food. However, Burlington has an opportunity to actively respond to community values associated with urban agriculture by adapting its policies to actively support alternative food production systems within its boundaries. Figure 4 provides a representation of current policy. Values motivate many urban agriculture activities, which can result in both positive and negative outcomes (i.e. some that are consistent with values and some that are not). Current policy intervenes in the cycle at urban agriculture activities, but is not informed by an understanding of the values that drive urban
agriculture activities, the needs of stakeholders resulting from the particular context of urban food production, or the potential positive and negative outcomes resulting from urban agriculture activities. As a result of this lack of intentionality, current policies that negatively affect practitioners may be resented and resisted, as has been seen in
Burlington in the case of chickens, goats, and urban agricultural structures.
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Figure 4. Current policy affects activities without consideration of values or outcomes
Figure 5. The development and function of future policy
In contrast, Figure 5 shows how policy can be designed to be more responsive to community values, urban agriculture activities, and outcomes. The integration of
community values in policy development can include consideration of whether policies support or undermine issues related to environmental sustainability, social equity, and local economic resilience. Stakeholder needs and potential outcomes of activities
associated with urban agriculture inform policy development, as does an understanding of
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which policy tools and governance configurations are best suited to maximize positive outcomes, minimize negative outcomes, and support the community values that inspire urban agriculture activities. To determine the correct policy tool to support values and outcomes, policy development should consider the attributes associated with the various tools (e.g. automaticity, coerciveness, etc.), the political feasibility of the tools, and the resource constraints present.
For this project, examining current policies allowed for an assessment of whether they supported or undermined values, stakeholder needs, and outcomes. Looking at policy approaches used in other cities helped in the identification of policies that have successfully or unsuccessfully integrated stakeholder needs and values. This framework for understanding responsive policy development informed the research objectives (as stated in Chapter 1) to:
• Assess current policies affecting urban agriculture in Burlington
• Analyze urban agriculture policy approaches used in other cities
• Produce policy recommendations that meet the needs of stakeholders In summary, the translation of community values into public policy enables responsive governance. Changes in community values necessitate the revision of previous policies to reflect current needs. In the case of urban agriculture policy, the values of different stakeholders, urban agriculture activities, and outcomes need to be considered when policy decisions are made.
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