In peri-urban areas, agricultural land loss is a prominent issue. At the same time, the demand for local food provision is growing. As a response, local authorities are engaging in farmland preservation procedures to protect and revalorize agricultural land in order to encourage local food production. However, little is known on the impacts of farmland preservation on other development policies such as housing or employment. Therefore, we studied the impacts of a French farmland preservation procedure in two peri-urban municipalities. We conducted field interviews with the stakeholders participating to this procedure. Our results show how land preservation procedures for food systems can constrain the ambition for a sustainable territorial development, especially when accompanied by long-term land protection.