Exploring 'the fuzzy front-end' of transformative food policy

Current literature on food policy integration emphasizes that "one of the most distinctive features of food policy is fragmentation" and that "this body of research has failed to become transformative" (Sonnino et al 2019: 110). The need to change food systems to be more sustainable and food policy to be more integrated is widely acknowledged in research and policy circles (Candel, Pereira 2017). The European Union´s Food2030 policy framework (European Commission 2017) promotes a `food system´ approach which considers and brings together the entire `value chain´ from inputs, primary production, harvesting, storage, processing, packing, distribution, waste streams to consumer intake and back. The `food systems´ approach also puts emphasis on the need for more collaborative and inclusive governance. Orchestrating and steering the transition of food systems towards a sustainability transformation requires building new knowledge networks for and with a range of public and private actors. To govern system transformation effectively, decision-makers need to engage in a differentiated dialogue across diverse food system actors on what type of systems change is needed and which pathways are desirable. Research and innovation (R&I) is considered an important lever in this transition. R&I policy-makers need to integrate multi-dimensional perspectives in developing policy rationales for transformative change (Weber, Rohracher 2012). Given the complexity and uncertainty inherent in food system transformation, there is clear need to better understand the "fuzzy front end" of transformative policy-making and the role of R&I. This paper addresses the crucial question of how R&I policy-makers may explore this "fuzzy front-end". Building on a deep transition approach (Schot, Kanger 2018) and the emergent framework of transformative innovation policy (Schot, Steinmüller 2018), we provide an analytical framework and illustrate it with an empirical application the context of supporting the EU´s Food2030 agenda (EC 2017). So-called `policy labs´ have been set up in and across Europe to institutionalize collaborative governance as well as explore and align R&I policies for transformative change in food policy.