Local participation is an oft agreed upon criterion and an essential condition for development and sustainability of any „new‟ form of tourism. Yet, it is the combination of the words „local‟ and „participation‟ that paradoxically implies that local residents are being so often left out of the planning, decision-making and managing of tourist development. Indeed, many have failed to understand the social structures that affect the outcome of participation. This issue is important to have in mind if we truly wish to embrace and develop local food production and tourism in the social setting of socio-economically challenged areas, such as the north-eastern parts of Gothenburg. Here, using food tourism as an integration strategy can be problematic for different reasons. A focus on food may breed stereotypes about immigrants or general suspicion, and thus attract negative media attention. Moreover, low levels of trust in municipal authorities can create difficulties of implementation and cause reluctance among the key actors in the area. By departing from the experiences of the ongoing project “Urban Rural Gothenburg”, this presentation takes in both tracks into account: the benefits of food tourism and the area’s many assets, but also the challenges these assets may entail due to the area’s specific socio-economic characteristics.