Food sharing is increasingly making its way in cities, offering new opportunities to tackle inequalities and shape more sustainable and resilient urban and peri-urban food systems. However, food sharing initiatives face multiple policy barriers that hinder its potential. Drawing on an international review of existing studies of Food Sharing Initiatives (FSI) governance, this first policy brief of the CULTIVATE Project summarizes key governance barriers that currently limit the sustainability potential of FSIs and also distils a suite of high-level policy recommendations to rectify this.