Exploring the contribution of alternative food networks to food security. A comparative analysis

[EN] Food (in)security has become a challenge not only for developing economies but also for High Income Countries. In parallel, food scholars have actively investigated the contribution of alternative food networks (AFNs) to the development of more sustainable and just food systems, paying attention to drivers, initiatives and policies supporting the development of alternatives to the dominant industrialised food system and its detrimental environmental and socio-economic impacts. However, few studies have directly addressed the contribution of AFNs to food security in the Global North. This paper aims to establish new linkages between food security debates and critical AFNs literature. For that purpose, we conduct a place-based approach to food security in a comparative analysis of initiatives of three different European contexts: Cardiff city-region (UK), the Flemish Region (Belgium) and the peri-urban area of the city of Valencia (Spain). The results unfold: i) how AFNs weave a more localised socio-economic fabric that creates new relationships between food security outcomes and specific territories, ii) hybridization processes within alternative but also conventional systems and iii) the role of advocacy and collective action at different levels. The analysis allows identification of key elements on which food security debates hinge and provides new insights to ground conceptual discussions on territorial and place-based food security approaches.This research is part of the project "Assessment of the impact of global drivers of change on Europe's food security" (TRANSMANGO), granted by the EU under 7th Framework Programme; theme KBBE.2013.2.5-01; Grant agreement no: 613532. Dr. Ana Moragues-Faus also acknowledges the funding of the European Commission and the Welsh Government that currently supports her Ser Cymru fellowship. 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Moving into the grey zone: looking beyond the ‘local’ and the ‘niche’ to foster transitions towards a more sustainable agro-food system

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Reconfiguring food systems towards sustainability through multi-actor collaborations: a practice based approach

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Exploring emergent practices in Alternative Food Networks: Voedselteams in Belgium

Current sustainability challenges in agro-food networks highlight the need for sustainability transitions in agro-food practices. This paper aims to contribute by analysing how emergent agro-food practices form and develop over time. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) provide a locus to study how emergent agro-food practices are shaped and to understand the factors that influence how they develop over time. We take a social practices approach to study Voedselteams — a network of food buying groups in Belgium. We go beyond studying single practices, by analysing AFNs as consisting of bundles of practices. We use a mix of methods (desk-top study, structured and semi-structured interviews, participant observation and workshops). Our results show that becoming involved in an AFN may also mean getting involved in other ‘alternative’ practices. As such, engaging in an AFN may require more effort than gaining access to or provisioning food through more strongly routinised practices. Our results suggest that whether, and the extent to which, participants get involved in emergent practice-bundles depends on an interplay between their motivations and the ways in which the emergent practice-bundles are embedded in existing bundles of practices. The routinisation and professionalisation of alternative practices – more in line with existing practice bundles - may facilitate the participation of members willing to invest less time and effort in gaining access to food through an AFN. This suggests that the routinisation and alignment with the bundles of practices that shape daily lives are crucial for emergent practices to appeal to a wider public.status: Published onlin

Can Alternative Food Networks contribute to a transition towards sustainability in Flanders: Assessing the marketing functions of Voedselteams

Current sustainability challenges in the dominant agro-food regime highlight the need for a systemic transition towards sustainability. It has been argued that, as a reaction to these sustainability challenges, niches have arisen that reorganise their practices in order to contribute to a more sustainable food system. These niches may in turn be seeds for a systemic transition. One specific type of such niches are Alternative Food Networks (AFNs). AFNs have already been researched in-depth from the perspective of two theories: the Multi-Level Perspective and Social Practice Theory, as well as through their combined use. Nevertheless, these studies have mainly focused on sustainability transitions in production and consumption. In this article we argue that this omits an important element of the food supply chain, namely all the activities between production and consumption. We take a holistic approach by looking at food supply chains as consisting of nine marketing functions. We do this by researching a particular type of AFN – Voedselteams - in Flanders. We find that, whereas in the dominant regime these functions are performed in a highly specialized way, within AFNs, they become more intertwined as more responsibility is taken up by consumers and producers. Yet, as initiatives grow, they might start taking up ‘regime-elements’ again in order to cope with the size. In this way, these initiatives may become hybrids between niche and regime

Retailing local food through supermarkets : Cases from Belgium and the Netherlands

The (re)localization of food systems is often presented as an alternative to the ‘globalized’ food system and its presumed unsustainabilities. Studies on sustainability transitions and food systems (re)localization predominantly address the role of Alternative Food Networks whereas the role that conventional supermarket based retail can play has not been as thoroughly studied. Supermarkets, however, take a central position as a main access point for food. Conventional retailing practices are increasingly guided by corporate sustainability principles and therein also increasingly offering locally sourced foods. Supermarkets thus cannot be ignored in discussions on food systems (re)localization and agro-food sustainability transitions. In this paper we assess how food system (re)localization is translated within conventional globalized supermarket-based food retailing in Belgium and the Netherlands taking a practice theory informed approach. First, we discuss the tensions and reinforcing mechanisms between local and conventional food retailing. We demonstrate that to overcome tensions between local and conventional retailing there is a need for increased flexibility (i) in deviating from conventional retailing practices for individual stores; and (ii) within the definition of locality – the definition of ‘local’ determines what local practices look like. Second, we assess how local retailing relates to corporate sustainability. Conventional and local retailing practices are motivated by corporate sustainability strategies. Local retailing is predominantly motivated by social-economic sustainability considerations, whereas the environmental sustainability of local food is implicitly assumed. However, our results suggest that local food retailing may be ineffective and even counterproductive to corporate environmental sustainability objectives. Finally, we address how regional policies pushing food system localization influence local food retailing within supermarkets. Regional policies may drive supermarkets to retail local foods. Nevertheless, in the absence of a centralized strategy, store managers may find themselves stuck between their regional context and their corporate retailing practices.</p

Organisational learning for sustainability transitions

This paper aims to present a conceptual discussion on the potential role that business corporations can play in sustainability transitions of sociotechnical systems, from the perspective of interactive learning processes. In order to discuss what type of organisational learning can lead to sustainability transitions, the paper borrows insights from the business management literature on organisational and inter-organisational learning, particularly related to the social learning theory of action and the discussion of learning loops (Armitage et al., 2008). The purpose is to identify and discuss aspects and dynamics of learning processes at organisational and inter-organisational levels that can favour or hinder sustainability transitions in the context of interactions between rather different actors. The overarching theoretical reference for this paper is based on the multi-level perspective (MLP). According to the MLP, key societal functions are fulfilled by socio-technical systems, which are formed of three basic analytical levels: landscape, regime and niches (Geels and Schot, 2007). Sociotechnical regime is the dominant mean of fulfilling a societal function. The interpretations and actions of different regime actors (e.g. business corporations) are guided by the regime’s basic architecture, which is characterised by relatively stable configurations and alignments of different cognitive and normative elements, activities and processes, including knowledge, techniques, artefacts, routines, practices, rules, world views, values, problem definition and interpretation. The stability of a regime’s basic architecture locks it within path-dependent trajectories, implying that regime changes are rather incremental (Schot and Geels, 2007). However, sustainability transitions require deep and broad structural changes in both technical and social components of the basic architecture of an incumbent regime, which go far beyond incremental or trivial adjustments (Smith et al., 2010). In fact, transitions involve the disruption of pre-existing commitments, roles and rules, and the development of new practices, values and identities, implying not only a regime shift, but also the transformation of the governance of the whole socio-technical system (Marques et al., 2012). It is widely emphasised by sustainability transitions scholars that such powerful changes are the outcome of multiple interactions, developments and learning processes within and between the three levels of a socio-technical system (Geels and Schot, 2007). In other words, transitions require powerful systemic learning processes and the engagement of all actors (i.e. multi-stakeholder learning process) from all levels (i.e. it is a multi-level learning process) (Loorbach et al., 2009). Therefore, the understanding of the roles, relative importance and interdependencies of the different actors in such systemic learning is of paramount importance to better understand the conditions under which sustainability transitions can occur. Despite being at the heart of transition theory, interactive learning between the different actors, from the different socio-technical levels is only vaguely defined and operationalised in most of the conceptual and empirical studies on sustainability transitions (Armitage et al., 2008). Moreover, the great bulk of scholarly work on the topic focuses largely on learning dynamics at the niche level. In fact, niches are conceived as protected learning spaces, where radical innovations with potential for triggering a regime shift can flourish (Geels and Schot, 2007). However, as discussed above, powerful changes such as those implied by socio-technical transitions require multiple interactive learning processes, which clearly need to go beyond protected spaces, and involve, for instance, powerful regime actors such as multinational corporations. In other words, the transitions require that actors from the different levels, particularly niche and regime actors, engage to, and learn from each other. Niche-regime interaction is one of the main challenges for transitions, and for the sustainability transition theory itself. Therefore, by looking at the rather neglected role played by business corporations (e.g. powerful mainstream actors) in collaborative learning for sustainability transitions, this paper helps bridging this gap, particularly in terms of refinement of the concept of socio learning for sustainability transitions