Citizen participation in food systems transitions: How inclusive should it be?

• Inclusive citizen participation promotes democratic values, informed decisions, legitimacy, social learning, and empowerment. • Inclusive citizen participation plays a different role in different dynamics of food systems transitions. • Participation should challenge existing structures. • There is a fundamental tension between the aim to transform food systems and setting up inclusive participatory processes. • To provide space and do justice to the experiences of some, it might be necessary to exclude others. Within food systems transitions debates, various arguments are given for inclusive citizen participation in decision-making processes. This article critically discusses these arguments through an integrative literature study. We link scientific papers on transition studies, public participation, inclusivity, and food system research to discuss the need for and relevance of inclusive citizen participation in food systems transitions. The article distinguishes five arguments for the inclusion of citizens in decision-making processes: normative, substantive, legitimate, social learning, and empowerment arguments. These arguments are connected to various dynamics relevant to a transition process. This study shows that there is a fundamental tension between food systems transition thinking and inclusive participation. This tension plays out differently in different dynamics of food systems transitions. Therefore, we propose that the most meaningful form of inclusive citizen participation differs for each dynamic of food systems transitions.