Alternative Food Networks: Knowledge, Practice, And Politics

E-Book Overview

Farmers’ markets, veggie boxes, local foods, organic products and Fair Trade goods – how have these once novel, "alternative" foods, and the people and networks supporting them, become increasingly familiar features of everyday consumption? Are the visions of "alternative worlds" built on ethics of sustainability, social justice, animal welfare and the aesthetic values of local food cultures and traditional crafts still credible now that these foods crowd supermarket shelves and other "mainstream" shopping outlets?

This timely book provides a critical review of the growth of alternative food networks and their struggle to defend their ethical and aesthetic values against the standardizing pressures of the corporate mainstream with its "placeless and nameless" global supply networks. It explores how these alternative movements are "making a difference" and their possible role as fears of global climate change and food insecurity intensify. It assesses the different experiences of these networks in three major arenas of food activism and politics: Britain and Western Europe, the United States, and the global Fair Trade economy. This comparative perspective runs throughout the book to fully explore the progressive erosion of the interface between alternative and mainstream food provisioning. As the era of "cheap food" draws to a close, analysis of the limitations of market-based social change and the future of alternative food economies and localist food politics place this book at the cutting-edge of the field.

The book is thoroughly informed by contemporary social theory and interdisciplinary social scientific scholarship, formulates an integrative social practice framework to understand alternative food production-consumption, and offers a unique geographical reach in its case studies.


E-Book Content

Alternative Food Networks Knowledge, practice, and politics David Goodman, E. Melanie DuPuis, and Michael K. Goodman Alternative Food Networks Farmers’ markets, veggie boxes, local foods, organic products, and Fair Trade goods – how have these once novel, “al­tern­ative” foods and the people and networks supporting them become increasingly familiar features of every­day consumption? Are the visions of “al­tern­ative worlds” built on ethics of sustain­ability, social justice, animal wel­fare, and the esthetic values of local food cultures and traditional crafts still cred­ible now that these foods crowd supermarket shelves and other “mainstream” shopping outlets? This timely book provides a crit­ical review of the growth of al­tern­ative food networks and their struggle to defend their ethical and esthetic values against the stand­ardizing pressures of the corporate mainstream with its “placeless and nameless” global supply networks. It ex­plores how these al­tern­ative movements are “making a dif­fer­ence” and their pos­sible role as fears of global climate change and food in­sec­ur­ity intensify. It assesses the different positions around these networks from three major arenas of food activism and pol­itics: the UK and Western Europe, the USA, and the global Fair Trade eco­nomy. This comparative per­spect­ive runs throughout the book to fully ex­plore the pro­gressive erosion of the interface between al­tern­ative and mainstream food pro­vi­sioning. As the era of “cheap food” draws to a close, ana­lysis of the lim­ita­tions of market-­based social change and the future of al­tern­ative food eco­nom­ies and localist food pol­itics place this book at the cutting edge of the field. The book is thoroughly informed by con­tempor­ary social theory and interdisciplinary social sci­ent­ific scholarship, formulating an ori­ginal integ­rat­ive framework to understand al­tern­ative food production–consumption and offers a unique geographical reach in its case studies. David Goodman is Visiting P