Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Global Governance

Faculty/School

Faculty of Arts

First Advisor

Dr. Alison Blay-Palmer

Advisor Role

Professor

Abstract

Our food systems are failing us. In particular, industrial food systems fail to deliver healthy, adequate food to billions of people (FAO et al. 2019; FAO et al. 2024) and have led to increased instances of mental health crises for farmers (Jones-Bitton 2019; Younker & Radunovich 2021). In addition, industrial food systems contribute to the devastating impacts of a warming climate (IPCC 2021), biodiversity loss (WWF 2021), and soil erosion (Wise 2019; Badreldin and Lobb 2023) worldwide. Yet, little structural change has occurred in the way agriculture is governed and the problems created by industrial agriculture are becoming increasingly entrenched. Given this context, the research in this dissertation asks:

Why, in an era of converging crises, has agricultural policy remained largely unchanged and supportive of industrial agriculture practices?

The research included in this dissertation is underpinned by current academic literature that constructs my understanding of food systems challenges and changes in global governance over the past decades (Chapter 2). Presented as three research papers (Chapters 4, 5, and 6), each chapter focuses on a unique aspect of governance and is enabled by the different methods laid out in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 lays out the methods and methodology used for the three research papers (Ch. 4, 5, and 6) included in this dissertation. Chapter 4 focuses on actor arrangements and power in Canadian federal agricultural policy while Chapter 5 focuses on how different food systems actors experience multistakeholder governance arrangements. Different examples of how place-based, rights-centred governance arrangements can offer a more equitable outlook for food systems are assessed in chapter 6. The concluding chapter (7) provides a set of tools and strategies to help bridge the gap between the findings of Chapters 4 and 5 with the examples of transition in Chapter 6.

Convocation Year

2025

Convocation Season

Spring

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Available for download on Friday, April 17, 2026

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