Local Food Security Through Balanced Boundary-Spanning Practices? The Embeddedness of Food Rescue Organizations in Urban Resource Networks

Titelangaben

Wiegel, Silvia:
Local Food Security Through Balanced Boundary-Spanning Practices? The Embeddedness of Food Rescue Organizations in Urban Resource Networks.
2026
Veranstaltung: RC21 Inequalities and the City; #28 Governing Food Systems: Understanding Food Inequalities and Food Insecurities in the City , 20.-22.07.2026 , Vienna.
(Veranstaltungsbeitrag: Kongress/Konferenz/Symposium/Tagung , Vortrag )

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Abstract

In Germany, the number of non-profit Food Rescue Organizations (FROs) is growing, particularly in urban areas. By redistributing surplus food to new consumer groups, often at no charge, these organizations provide opportunities for food security. Different models of FROs have emerged, including established pantries (Tafeln) and newer food-sharing initiatives (Foodsharing), which differ in organizational structures and suggest different outcomes for food security. As non-profit organizations, both models rely on volunteer-based internal decision-making structures and local external resource relations with stakeholders from within and outside the food system. However, differences in the practices of developing and sustaining partnerships with internal and external local stakeholders remain underexplored, leaving a research gap regarding potentially different impacts of urban networks of FROs on food security, such as food access and food agency.
This study aims to address this research gap by investigating the urban network embeddedness and boundary-spanning practices of these two FRO models, as well as their impact on the organizations’ ability to influence food access and the agency of their target groups. Using a relational approach, i.e., qualitative structural analysis with interviews and ego-centred network maps, this study first identifies the types of internal and external stakeholders that regularly provide resources and services to FROs, and whether there are any differences between the two models. Secondly, it focuses on the practices of (im-)material boundary-spanning practices, encompassing a range of interactions from connecting to problem-solving. The research is based on interviews with 19 managers of both models of FROs, operating in small or medium-sized cities in a Bavarian administrative district.
This paper presents the theoretical and methodological approach of the study, as well as its findings on the varying urban network embeddedness and boundary-spanning practices of FROs, and the significance of these practices for enhancing food security at the local level.