The food system’s decreasing ability to deliver food security has led to the emergence of food assistance initiatives. Food assistance is highly contested; as some argue, it is a “failure of the state”, while others regard food assistance to be an “extension of the welfare state”. Either way, research suggests that actors within food assistance are rethinking their role in the food system. In this paper, we study three food assistance initiatives, in the Netherlands, Italy and Ireland, that perform new food assistance practices while embedded in specific institutional contexts, and analyse their potential to transform the food system, drawing on Transformative Social Innovation theory. Building on transition and social innovation theory, this recently developed theory distinguishes different levels within systems, named “shades of change”, that are associated with societal transformation. By exploring these “shades” of change in the analysis, we describe aspects of the initiatives’ novel practices, and in relation to the initiative and institutional relations their motivations and expectations. We compare the three cases and discuss how food assistance practices relate to and change (or do not change) the food system. In particular, we elaborate on how these three food assistance initiatives contribute in various ways to local food and welfare system innovation. In doing so, we offer a novel perspective on food assistance initiatives. We argue that they show dynamics that have the potential for more substantial transformation towards food security over time, by building momentum through “small wins”.

This paper offers a comprehensive critical review on digitalisation in rural areas, drawing on international and EU policies, scientific and grey literature and real-life examples from two European H2020 research projects. In doing so, it aims at providing a basic conceptual framework encompassing three main intervention areas, with relative sub-themes, identified as relevant for rural areas, namely: the rural digital divide, the attractiveness of rural areas and opportunities for strengthening local governance. For each of these broad themes, the role of digital tools is explored and supported by case study examples providing valuable insights and real-life applications in rural settings.