The nature of food localisms among consumers in Ireland: defensive localisms, sustainability and reflexivity

Food is arguably the best example of the interaction between nature and society, fitting squarely in the jurisdiction of human geography topics which include sustainability, consumption, political economy, culture, nationalism, agriculture, communities, commodities and globalisation. The globalisation and industrialisation of the prevailing agri-food system have caused negative effects on human health, the environment and developing world communities and livelihoods. Partly in reaction to this, the positive value of local food, over industrial \u27placeless\u27 food, has been recognised and is seen as offering something alternative: an environmentally friendly system of production with fewer food miles and (often assumed) less industrialised production; a necessarily safe and equitable labour environment due to the opaqueness of the food chain; stability of income and livelihoods for producers and their families and consequent community resilience; and traceable food which comes embedded with information about the place and manner of the food¿s production. As a result, there has been a drive recently towards reducing the distance between consumers and the origins of their food, spurred by consumer demand and bolstered by promotions of local food originating from the realm of production. In recent years, food system localisation has become an area of importance for national governments, industry, policy-makers and local communities. Although past studies have critically engaged with some of the issues surrounding a transition towards localised food systems, research to date has largely ignored the conflation of local and sustainable (by consumers, amongst others) in alternative food systems, preferring to focus instead on quantitative measuring of how consumers view local food. Discourses of scale, which formed the basis of this examination, argue that as scale is a social construct, it cannot be said that there is anything inherent about the local. By extension, to believe that local food is good, just or sustainable amounts to spatial valorisation. The mistaken conflation of local with a number of positive characteristics, including sustainability, obscures the hand which local food systems can have in perpetuating undemocratic ideals and practices. Using Galway and Dublin as two case study locations and utilising a theoretically-informed, multi-phase mixed methodology, this study aimed to analyse how consumers in Ireland understand, perceive, value and prioritise local and sustainable food. Drawing on empirical data obtained from interviews, focus groups and surveys with over 1000 participants, the study found that the majority of respondents were motivated in their local food purchasing by defensive rather than by reflexive processes. Participants in this study appeared uncomfortable with the term ¿sustainable food¿. By contrast they were confident in the meaning of ¿local food¿ and largely defined it according to limits of spatial proximity. Participants attributed a number of positive traits to local food, sustainability among them, and this led to the prioritising of the issue of local provenance when choosing food. However, in spite of the importance of local provenance, the results from this study indicate that it was not the most important issue for participants; instead, pragmatic considerations such as affordability most often prevailed. Nonetheless, participants\u27 motivations appeared to be driven by defensive localisms and personal beliefs in the value of helping \u27our own\u27, rather than by reflexive values of environmental protection and support for democratic principles of social equity. These results have implications for food system transformation away from its current unsustainable state to one which involves alternative modes of production and networks of provisioning. The results of this study represent new and significant contributions to academic knowledge in a number of areas. It is the first of its kind to qualitatively examine the understandings of consumers in Ireland towards local and sustainable food. A key outcome is the creation of a new framework of localist typologies which is theoretically and empirically informed. This framework is the first of its kind in that it applies the esoteric concept of reflexivity to the views and values of consumers in the hopes of advancing discourses of food localisms in new and fruitful directions

Addressing food poverty in systems : governance of food assistance in three European countries

Emergency food poverty relief is one of the possible entry points to understanding food poverty in affluent societies, whereas the visibility of food poverty relief initiatives has evolved, together with large-scale food recovery organizations and networks aiming at reducing and valorising surplus in food systems. There is a substantial diversity of actors and resources involved, resulting in differently shaped initiatives and programs. It can be described as a continuum encompassing third sector initiatives, large and small businesses, and institutional intervention programs: by bringing together institutions, companies, organisations and civil society, public-private food assistance addresses food poverty in a way that is not viable by any of these actors alone and by adopting context specific governance arrangements. This paper contributes to this debate with the analysis of governance relations in food assistance initiatives across different European countries (Italy, The Netherlands and Ireland). By approaching food assistance from a systems perspective, we further the understanding of these initiatives and their modes of governance. The case studies offer a mapping of food assistance by identifying functions and outcomes, actors and resources involved, and the links the initiatives have to those elements, thus highlighting where collaborative food poverty reduction takes place that goes beyond traditional boundaries. Food assistance initiatives are a civil initiated response shaped by and complementing the social welfare and food systems in which they are embedded. The interpretation of food assistance functions leads to challenging the boundaries of food assistance and potentially triggering innovative approaches to improving food and nutrition security. Discussions show that while they have managed to find innovative and collaborative governance solutions to address the very immediate issues rather effectively, they do not negate the need for food system transformation to address the ultimate reasons for food poverty.</p

Capturing change in European food assistance practices: a transformative social innovation perspective

The food system’s decreasing ability to deliver food security has led to the emergence of food assistance initiatives. Food assistance is highly contested; as some argue, it is a “failure of the state”, while others regard food assistance to be an “extension of the welfare state”. Either way, research suggests that actors within food assistance are rethinking their role in the food system. In this paper, we study three food assistance initiatives, in the Netherlands, Italy and Ireland, that perform new food assistance practices while embedded in specific institutional contexts, and analyse their potential to transform the food system, drawing on Transformative Social Innovation theory. Building on transition and social innovation theory, this recently developed theory distinguishes different levels within systems, named “shades of change”, that are associated with societal transformation. By exploring these “shades” of change in the analysis, we describe aspects of the initiatives’ novel practices, and in relation to the initiative and institutional relations their motivations and expectations. We compare the three cases and discuss how food assistance practices relate to and change (or do not change) the food system. In particular, we elaborate on how these three food assistance initiatives contribute in various ways to local food and welfare system innovation. In doing so, we offer a novel perspective on food assistance initiatives. We argue that they show dynamics that have the potential for more substantial transformation towards food security over time, by building momentum through “small wins”

Life-course marginalities of positive health and aging: A participatory approach integrating the lived experiences of older Irish travelers and older homeless adults in multistakeholder research processes

There is increased emphasis on adopting positive health and aging policy goals for heterogeneous older populations, and recognition of the role that participatory research approaches can play in supporting their implementation. However,questions remain about how to represent the marginalized experiences of some older populations within such processes. With a focus on older Irish ethnic Travelers and older homeless adults as two vulnerable populations in Ireland, this article presents and critically discusses a participatory approach developed to integrate marginalized older adult perspectives on positive health and aging in a multistakeholder research and development process. The qualitative methodology is first detailed, incorporating methods that harness collaboratively derived views and individual narratives (e.g., focus groups; consultation forums; in-depth interviews). Critical reflections on research implementation and specific considerations relevant to these populations are presented (e.g., trust building; one-to-one facilitation), with lessons then drawn for the design of multistakeholder participatory approaches with marginalized older populations.</p