Working Group 2.8

Local Food Networks, Power and Sustainability

Convenors:
Claire Lamine, Inra, France, Claire.Lamine@grignon.inra.fr
Yuna Chiffoleau , Inra, France chiffole@supagro.inra.fr

Considering the growing literature about local and/or alternative food networks, it seems important to clarify the specific contribution of European rural sociology to these debates. In Europe, the focus has largely been put on local food networks as “new” (collective) forms of marketing for farmers and as contributing to the possible advent of a new rural development paradigm (Van Der Ploeg, 2007). In North America, many studies have analysed these local food networks ambition and potential to create meaningful change in the food system. Some consider they are more oriented toward developing new alternatives for consumers in a more diverse food system than toward changing the dominant food system (Allen et al., 2003). Others analyse the relocalization of food systems as rather defensive and being possibly part of a neo-liberal governmentality (DuPuis and Goodman, 2005). More “optimistic” analysts try to transcend the tension between the alternative potential of these local food systems, which relies on a pragmatic and incremental way of acting, and their oppositional potential, which supposes more classical political action, by suggesting the notion of “food democracy” (Hassanein, 2003). Finally, a great part of the recent literature has been devoted to the debate over the arguments of local food networks’ resistance to agro-food distanciation and of proximity’s positive effects (Feagan, 2007 for a review). This points to the necessity of further research and discussion about the effect of such systems on power relationships between (often urban) consumers, possible intermediaries and producers as well as among producers or among consumers, and about their contribution to sustainable development.

Four series of questions will be discussed in this workshop:
1. Power and politicisation in and of the local: local systems are not intrinsically democratic. What is the impact of such systems on power relationships? Is there not a risk that such systems might generate new asymmetries between producers and consumers, among producers and among consumers? What is the place of disadvantaged social groups (either producers or consumers)? Concentrating the attention on local food networks in certain areas might lead to leave aside social groups and regions that would have less means and competences to settle such networks. This questions the links between these local initiatives and the transfer of welfare state prerogatives towards local and private responsibilities.
2. The scale of the local: community, foodshed, region? At what scale can local agricultures can provide a complete and regular provisioning for a balanced diet? For example, in many places, the demand of local authorities to provide local (and “sustainable”) products for local schools meals might involve specific forms of collective organization and complementarities. How do the social actors deal with these “up scaling” issues? What new partnerships are developed and what are the roles of civil society organizations and public policies at the local scale?
3. The trajectories of local food systems. Concerning specifically the organic sector, the notion of trajectory has proved useful to describe the parallel evolution of production and marketing modes (on the producers’ side), consumption practices and involvement (on the consumers’ side), power relationships and modes of decision (between producers and consumers), and sustainability of such systems over time. This notion might be applied to a specific local food network and its actors – ie., the specificities of their social trajectories - but also to the more general landscape of food systems in a given area or to comparative approaches between systems or between European regions.
4. The contribution of local food systems to sustainable development. The idea is not to look at this through the normative frame of sustainable development’s three dimensions but rather to look at how local food networks deal with global issues such as energy shortage, climate change and access to food, and how they link these issues to more local ones such as local landscape or rural employment.
Finally, as the disciplines and the chosen theoretical perspectives can partly explain the differences in focuses, particularly welcome will be papers confronting and discussing theoretical approaches relating to social equity.

Allen P., FitzSimmons M., Goodman M. & Warner K. (2003) Shifting plates in the agrifood landscape: the tectonics of alternative agrifood initiatives in California, Journal of Rural Studies 19(1), 61-75.
DuPuis M. & Goodman D. (2005) Should we go "home" to eat? towards a reflexive politics in localism, Journal of Rural Studies 21(3), 359-371.
Feagan R. (2007). The place of food : mapping out the « local » in local food systems, Progress in Human Geography 31 Hassanein N. (2003) Practicing food democracy: a pragmatic politics of transformation, Journal of Rural Studies 19, 77-86.
Van der Ploeg J. (2007) Resistance and paradigm shift. Rural development and sustainability reconsidered., in: XXII ESRS Congress, Wageningen.