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Community building through collaborative food production and consumption: A case study of Grow Free in South Australia
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Robert Baker Aitken and Anne Hopkins Aitken cofounded Diamond Sangha (DS) as a small living room sangha in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, in 1959. By 1993, DS served as the primary hub for an international network of sanghas, extending across the Pacific region. This paper traces DS's development from its humble beginnings into a major conduit for the flow of trans-Pacific Zen from Hawaiʻi to the continental USA, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand. It argues that DS played a vital role in the rapid growth of Zen throughout the Pacific region by utilizing a horizontal networking style of visiting teachers nurturing local leadership in distant sanghas, creating a lattice of interrelated sanghas across the Pacific. It likewise argues that Aitken's vision for DS entailed a blending of innovation and tradition, straddling the divide between the imperatives to meet the needs of local contexts and to preserve inherited styles of practice.
This article explores the COVID-19 pandemic as an external “shock” that changed household-consumption practices in Melbourne, Australia. We assess national consumption data and retail data for the state of Victoria to show how dramatically consumption patterns shifted during 2020. We then discuss three specific examples of changed consumption practices during the pandemic drawn from an analysis of media reports: bread baking, food growing, and bicycle riding. These activities illustrate how the pandemic and resultant lockdowns enabled innovation in domestic consumption, enhanced food security and resilience, and created space for the experience of a slower way of life. We argue that the pandemic provided impetus to experiment and innovate in ways that are relevant to sustainability but not necessarily motivated by it. Further, there is limited evidence that sustainable consumption practices will live on at an integrated mass scale, given a lack of wider institutional effects, such as changes in policy, business strategy, or mass social movements to support them. Instead, we hypothesize that these new consumption experiences “discovered” during the lockdown will live on as practice memories that might be mobilized when the next shock comes.
This descriptive study explored organic farmers’ perceived contribution to community resilience. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and examined for predetermined and emerging categories and themes. Ten producers and 20 workers described direct contributions to community resilience constructs, particularly increased political, economic, and natural capital; a sense of community pride and belonging; and historical responsibility. Participants described creating new spaces and opportunities for social interactions such as volunteer engagement and closer relationships with customers, farmers and social organizations. They also referred to three different types of social networks: (1) farmer-to-farmer networks (bonding); (2) farmer-to-community networks (bridging); and (3) organization-to-organization networks (linking). Findings also suggest a perceived bidirectional relationship between local food systems and strong social networks. This paper discusses existing literature; proposes a theoretical framework that supports the research approach taken by the study; and identifies specific constructs connecting local food systems to community resilience.
Reducing food waste is widely recognized as critical for improving resource efficiency and meeting the nutritional demand of a growing human population. Here we explore whether the sharing economy can provide meaningful assistance to reducing food waste in a relatively low-impact and environmentally-sound way. Analyzing 170,000 postings on a popular peer-to-peer food-sharing app, we find that over 19 months, 90t of food waste with an equivalent retail value of £0.7 million were collected by secondary consumers and diverted from disposal. An environmental analysis focused on Greater London reveals that these exchanges were responsible for avoiding emission of 87–156t of CO2eq. Our results indicate that most exchanges were among users associated with lower income yet higher levels of education. These findings, together with the high collection rates (60% on average) suggest that the sharing economy may offer powerful means for improving resource efficiency and reducing food waste. Reducing food waste is important. Here the authors investigate whether digitally enabled social networks can efficiently reduce food waste and find that in 19 months, around 91t of food waste were collected by secondary consumers and diverted from disposal.
In response to calls by scholars to deepen theoretical engagement in research on Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), in this article we critically discuss and assess major theoretical approaches deployed in the study of AFNs. After highlighting the strengths and limitations of each theoretical approach, we provide an alternative framework – which we refer to as the Geographical Political Ecology of Food Systems – that integrates the contributions that have emerged in the study of the alternative geographies of food with an understanding of capitalist processes in the food system. We do this by bringing together literature on the political ecology of food systems and multiple spatialities, including Doreen Massey's understanding of space as a heterogeneous multiplicity and Eric Sheppard's conceptualization of sociospatial positionality. We utilize research on agrarian change and AFNs in Eastern Europe to elaborate this approach. We argue that this new perspective helps navigate tensions in AFN scholarship, and provides new avenues for research and action. We focus particularly on the ability of AFNs to provide a sustainable livelihood for participating farmers, thus far a neglected topic in AFN research in Europe.
Keywords: Alternative Food Networks, Eastern Europe, spatialities, positionality, livelihoods
By organizing peer-to-peer exchanges and promoting access over ownership, the sharing
economy is transforming a great variety of sectors. Enjoying fast growth, the sharing economy is an umbrella term encompassing heterogeneous initiatives that create different
types of economic, environmental, or social value. This heterogeneity triggers tensions and
intense disputes about the perimeter of the field. Do Airbnb and Uber belong to the sharing
economy? How do we consider practices such as gifting, renting, and swapping that existed
before the sharing economy boom? To sort out this complexity, we have adopted a pragmatic and grounded approach examining 27 initiatives that claim to be part of, or are perceived as emblematic of the sharing economy. We develop a typology of sharing economy business models revealing four configurations: shared infrastructure providers, commoners, missiondriven platforms, and matchmakers. Each configuration exhibits specific value creation logics, scalability issues, sustainability impacts, and potential controversies. Our results provide guidance for sharing entrepreneurs, for established businesses that want to embrace the principles of the sharing economy, and for public actors wishing to regulate or
support the field.
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to individuals' organizing themselves and managing food systems in an 'alternative' and more sustainable way. Such emerging food initiatives are most commonly known as 'Alternative Food Networks' (AFNs). However, there is an ongoing debate concerning the extent to which AFNs facilitate social, economic and environmental change. There are criticisms of the overall sustainability promise of AFNs related to sufficiency of impact, possible counter effects and the relevance of impacts. Because empirical studies often only focus on specific sustainability issues or AFNs, it has been difficult to develop more robust theories about the relations between diverse AFNs arrangements and sustainability. Thus, the aim of this paper is to contribute towards reducing this knowledge gap through a systematic literature review on AFNs in relation to sustainability. We summarize main methodological approaches, the types of AFNs studied and sustainability dimensions addressed in literature to date. Findings serve as reference to propose opportunities for future research regarding sustainability in AFNs.
Despite the unprecedented attention paid to the sharing economy and despite the growing interest in household food production, the non-market and non-monetised sharing of home-grown food – a social practice at the intersection of these two concerns – has so far largely escaped scholars’ attention. The goal of the article is twofold. First, drawing on a large-scale survey (2058 respondents) and four focus groups conducted in the Czech Republic in 2015, the article shows that in the Global North the sharing of homegrown food is a surprisingly widespread and economically and environmentally significant practice. Second, the article to some extent aims to break with the research tradition that deems studies conducted in the periphery of the Global North lacking in potential to produce more generally valid insights. It therefore seeks to counter the scripting of Eastern Europe on the margins of the geographies of knowledge production.
The article contests the causal link between economic hardship and informal food practices, views these practices as sustainability by outcome rather than intention, and suggests they are compatible with the tenets of alternative food networks. While not perceived as sites of outright resistance to capitalism, these spaces are viewed by practitioners as constituting valuable domains of socially and culturally motivated human interactions, driven by the desire for fresh and healthy food, fulfilling personal hobbies,
and the development of enjoyable social ties.
According to the UN estimates, world population will increase to over 8 billion by 2030. Increasing demand for food and raw materials will place additional pressure on limited natural resources. In this context, the current levels of food waste in advanced economies are no longer economically, socially and environmentally sustainable over the long term. Structural changes will be needed along the whole supply chain as well as in consumers’ attitudes and behaviours. The sharing economy is actually playing an important role in trying to achieve more sustainable patterns, also within the food sector. In particular, several initiatives and start-ups are being developed in the US and Europe, involving the collection and use of the excess of food from consumers and retailers and the promotion of collaborative consumption models. However, the correlation between food sharing practices and reduced food waste cannot be taken for granted. This chapter identified the literacy contours of this relationship, highlighting how food sharing is frequently undermined by social factors and that to make it effective specific skills are needed. Moreover, a major effort towards general routines and practices, which underpin individual-level behavior, is required to tackle food waste in a more effective manner.
Despite the proliferation of sharing economy initiatives in agri-food systems, the recent literature has still not unravelled what sharing exactly entails from an organizational standpoint. In light of this knowledge gap, this study aims to understand which resources are shared, and how, in a heterogeneous set of sharing economy initiatives in the context of food and agriculture. Specifically, this study compares the organization of various forms of alternative food networks (AFNs), which are recognized to be frugal forms of sharing economy initiatives (i.e., locally based, small-scale and with limited use of information technology), in terms of leadership, bureaucracy, shared resources and participants’ engagement. Data from a comparative case study across 18 AFNs identify five sharing economy models of AFNs with distinctive shared resources and organizational mechanisms: consumer groups; commercial community gardens; as well as network-based, privately owned and publicly owned self-consumption community gardens. These models also display notable differences in terms of their origins, participants’ goals and constraints which, to some extent, may be associated to the nature of their organization. Findings inform policy-makers, AFNs’ leaders and stakeholders—especially those seeking to support innovative models towards sustainable transitions—on how to tailor institutional norms and develop networks to meet the heterogeneous needs of different typologies of sharing economy initiatives in agri-food systems.
Sharing is an alternative form of distribution to commodity exchange and gift giving. Compared to these alternative modes, sharing can foster community, save resources, and create certain synergies. Yet outside of our immediate families, we do little sharing. Even within the family, there is increased privatization. This article addresses impediments to sharing as well as incentives that may encourage more sharing of both tangible and intangible goods. Two recent developments, the Internet and intellectual property rights doctrines, are locked in a battle that will do much to determine the future of sharing. Businesses may lead the way with virtual corporations outsourcing the bulk of their operations. Whether virtual consumers sharing some of their major possessions are a viable counterpart remains an open question.
Sharing is a fundamental consumer behavior that we have either tended to overlook or to confuse with commodity exchange and gift giving. Sharing is a distinct, ancient, and increasingly vital consumer research topic that bears on a broad array of consumption issues ranging from sharing household resources versus atomized family possessions to file sharing versus intellectual property rights. This theoretical review distinguishes between sharing in and sharing out, and suggests that sharing in dissolves interpersonal boundaries posed by materialism and possession attachment through expanding the aggregate extended self. However, such sharing is challenged by growing market commoditization. Implications for consumer theory and research are considered. (c) 2009 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
In this paper we explore the development and incidence of alternative food networks within a European-wide context. By developing a consistent definition of short food supply chains, we address both the morphology and the dynamics of these, and then examine empirical evidence concerning their incidence and rural development impact across seven EU member states. These developments need to be seen as one significant contribution to the current transitions in rural Europe concerning the crisis of conventional intensive and productivist agriculture and the public consumer pressure for a larger variety of distinctive 'quality' food products.
Illustrated by global case studies and empirical data, this book explores the history and current practises of food sharing, whilst exploring the impact and potential of such sharing for cities. Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence.
In a connected backyard gardening scheme, the backyards of neighboring houses are connected through mutually accessible gates so that the individual households can benefit from the sharing of resources, and develop social links with neighbors. This study highlights the significance of connected backyard gardening in terms of community building, based on interviews with a group of five households and a group of three households from two suburban streets in Adelaide, Australia. The study has found that these connected backyard gardens are a new form of intentional communities. They have demonstrated it is possible to carry out a sharing economy, a circular economy, and a platform economy in a small scale yet collective and innovative manner. The spread of connected backyard gardening in Adelaide is being challenged by land-subdivision pressure favoring urban infill. The study suggests the social benefits of collective residential gardening should be factored into city planning.
This study investigates how the wellbeing trend in popular media regulates women's bodies and their selves through establishing norms around successful aging. We report on an exploratory qualitative content analysis of representations of wellbeing and aging from The Australian Women's Weekly (AWW) magazine. While some articles emphasized self-care and self-responsibility, many articulated relational and social/structural understandings of wellbeing. Compared with an earlier analysis of the AWW, our study found largely positive views of experiences of aging, associated with new opportunities and increased self-acceptance. These findings demonstrate how magazines both reflect and reinforce subtle processes of social change.
Food sharing platforms are becoming increasingly popular, but little is known about the key determinants of their success, in particular those based on the “sharing for the community” model. This paper aims to highlight the impacts and the connections between five drivers of the success of food sharing platforms and their role in favoring consumer behavioral responses. Using multiple regression and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, the study analyzed data from 455 OLIO users. The results reveal the fundamental and interconnected roles of consumer familiarity, perception of environmental and social responsibility, and community social support, in enhancing consumer behavioral response. The research contributes to the literature and provides insights for managers by highlighting how corporate social responsibility (CSR), in combination with social support, strengthens the success of food sharing.
Purpose
This paper explores the contextual relevance of sharing economy for the organic food market in an emerging economy like India.
Design/methodology/approach
Case study approach was used to collect empirical data from different types of organic food markets.
Findings
Organic food farmers markets compared to online and health food stores tends to facilitate sharing economy more since it helps them to build value, scale and trust. By sharing resources, skills and spaces, organic farmers markets have increased organic food availability, reduced its cost of certification and operation besides managing consumer trust. Subjective influence through social media and offline interaction reduces information asymmetry at zero marginal cost. Organic food producers/retailers can get a competitive advantage by tapping underutilized assets to create value and opportunities besides overcoming their demand and supply constraints.
Originality/value
The research offers a fresh perspective to the organic food sector, particularly in emerging economies like India. It could assist all stakeholders to overcome the current demand and supply challenges faced in organic food markets.
There has been an increasing consumer demand for local and organic food as they are considered to be more sustainable, ecological, and healthier. The 'conventional' long food distribution system is not sufficient to fulfill the current needs. Consequently, short distribution systems for local and organic food have been gaining popularity, which is not only sustainable but also contributes to food security and satisfies local consumer demand. One such short distribution systems are Alternative Food Networks (AFNs). The AFNs have emerged as a promising provisioning system for local and organic food that promotes economical, environmental, and social sustainability and respect for farming tradition. However, the AFNs are facing challenges in increasing the distribution of local and organic food in the long term. The purpose of the paper is to make a review of the existing short food distribution systems for local and organic food and also to propose a research agenda. In order to achieve this, a literature review is conducted and different food distribution channels within AFNs are studied. The challenges for each food distribution channel are identified and then compared to 'conventional' distribution systems. The main finding of the study is a framework of the main challenges of short food distribution channels within AFNs. The practical implication is generic criteria to consider while designing a short food distribution system that closely connects consumers and farmers of local and organic food. The policy implication is to create favorable conditions to encourage short food distribution systems in the long term.
In recent years, several scholarly attempts have been made to conceptually outline the contours of the sharing economy. However, there is still limited consensus on fundamental characteristics of sharing models, the markets they create, and the controversies surrounding them. Based on an assessment of existing typologies of the sharing economy, this paper outlines a new theory-driven framework for describing and analyzing business-to-consumer and peer-to-peer sharing models that draws on the nascent literature of partial organization. Emphasizing the core organizational characteristics of sharing models (membership, rules, monitoring, sanctioning, and hierarchy), this new framework moves beyond existing definitions and scales used to map and analyze the fast-growing sharing economy field.
Sharing economies are being identified across diverse territories, including the food sector, as potential means to enact urban sustainability transitions. Within these developments ICT (information and communication technologies) are seen as a crucial enabler of sharing, stretching the spaces over which sharing can take place. However, there has been little explicit conceptual or empirical attention to these developments within the broad landscape of food sharing. In response, this paper provides the first macro-geographical analysis of urban food sharing mediated by ICT. Focusing on individual food-sharing initiatives drawn from a scoping database of 468 urban areas and ninety-one countries, this analysis reveals a variegated geography of food sharing in terms of location, what is being shared and the mode of food sharing adopted. Also documented is the extent to which these initiatives articulate sustainability claims and provide evidence to substantiate them. In conclusion, the paper reflects on the work that such a scoping database can do in relation to wider challenges of transforming urban food systems.
An exploration of the impact of unintended consequences in an interdependent world and of the opportunities for creativity and community. © 2011 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved.
There has been a resurgence of community gardening over the past decade with a wide range of actors seeking to get involved, from health agencies aiming to increase fruit and vegetable consumption to radical social movements searching for symbols of non-capitalist ways of relating and occupying space. Community gardens have become a focal point for local activism in which people are working to contribute to food security, question the erosion of public space, conserve and improve urban environments, develop technologies of sustainable food production, foster community engagement and create neighbourhood solidarity. Drawing on in-depth case studies and social movement theory, Claire Nettle provides a new empirical and theoretical understanding of community gardening as a site of collective social action. This provides not only a more nuanced and complete understanding of community gardening, but also highlights its potential challenges to notions of activism, community, democracy and culture.
The slow movement has recently offered an alternative approach to sustainable tourism development, and this study aims to investigate the potential of Cittaslow philosophy and practices for enhancing local community involvement and empowerment in the tourism sector through which sustainable tourism is better implemented. Qualitative research was conducted on the case of Goolwa in South Australia, the first non-European Cittaslow. The results reveal that not only did Cittaslow accreditation and its accompanying practices encourage local community participation in decision-making processes, but also revitalised the locality of Goolwa through promoting local specialities and products, in particular food and wine. A stronger and more effective collaboration among local communities, businesses and residents after the Cittaslow accreditation was noted in the context of psychological and social aspects of local community empowerment, especially for developing and managing tourism. This paper further discusses the implications of Cittaslow through which local community empowerment and sustainability in tourism can be more achievable.
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