Caring dachas

Pungas, Lilian

doi:10.4324/9781003004820-6

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…This also demonstrates the deep human need to be an active (also political) subject in one's own life, to take action and be involved in the immediate, concrete surrounding nature, to which self-determined food grown in one's own garden and cultivated in nature contributes greatly. Such motives and benefits of the gardening have been further pointed out by various scholars such as Zavisca (2003), Ančić et al (2019), Pungas (2019Pungas ( , 2020, and Sovová (2020), among others.…”

Section: Social Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Dachas and food democracy—What makes a (good) food citizen?

Pungas

2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Against the backdrop of multiple crises within—and due to—the current industrial agri-food system, food is a highly political issue. As calls for food sovereignty grow louder and the war in Ukraine exposes the fragility of global food systems, the concept of food democracy calls on all (food) citizens to engage in a democratic and collective struggle for socially just and environmentally friendly food systems. To date, “Western” examples of food democracy and formal political procedures of civil society have dominated scholarship, ignoring the self-organized, low-key, and informal political activities around food in the post-socialist East. In this article, we shed light on the aspects of food democracy within Food Self-Provisioning (FSP) practices in Eastern Estonia, which is our case study. Our empirical data is based on semi-structured interviews conducted in 2019–2021 with 27 gardeners on their so-called dachas—a Russian term for a plot of land with a seasonal allotment house used primarily for food production. The analysis focuses on the food-, farming-, and nutrition-related attitudes and practices of the gardeners, as well as the multitude of collective endeavors to improve food systems. Despite the precarious socio-economic and political status of the gardeners, we identified a variety of subtle, informal, and mundane forms of democratic practices and everyday resistance. We investigate the interplay of these aspects along the three dimensions of food democracy (input, throughput, output). On the one hand, FSP on Eastern Estonian dachas encompasses essential characteristics of the mainly “Western” concept of food democracy, allowing access to and participation in agricultural production while preserving (re)productive nature in the future. On the other hand, we caution against excessive optimism and romanticization of such local food communities, as they tend to remain exceptions and risk extinction or displacement if they are not valorized and reshaped through public discourse. We conclude with a plea for building and strengthening alliances between the marginalized elderly rural food producers and the more youthful urban food activists to achieve more democratic, just, and ecologically sound food systems.

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Section: Social Dimensionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Dachas and food democracy—What makes a (good) food citizen?

Pungas

2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

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“…Sovová et al (2021, p. 12) use the framework of care to understand FSP from a more abstract perspective as ‘a caring practice that entails both altruism and conviviality, as well as responsibility and commitment’. Pungas (2020) also discusses FSP from the perspective of care.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These findings are similar across a variety of geographic contexts, including Europe, North America, and Australia. Second, FSP seems to be an enjoyable hobby, or a meaningful free-time activity for many (Jehlička et al, 2021; Mincytė et al, 2020; Sovová & Veen, 2020; Svobodová et al, 2021; Vávra et al, 2021), with people reporting health benefits such as stress relief, getting exercise, and finding tranquillity and relaxation from interaction with nature (Mincytė et al, 2020; Pungas, 2020; Sovová & Veen, 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For some, FSP may also signify a form of self-care (Mincytė et al, 2020; Pungas, 2020), or care for their families and small children through provision of healthy food (Mincytė et al, 2020; Sovová et al, 2021). In addition to health meanings attached to the practice itself, the grown variety of plants may also imbue health meanings of their own.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Heikkurinen et al, 2019b;Ruuska et al, 2020), as the discussion revolves around humans' access to food, and individualistic notions of wellbeing benefits from the self-centred practice (such as stress reduction, exercise or access to food that is perceived healthy). However, the framework of care used in some of the studies (i.e., Sovová et al, 2021;Pungas, 2020) interestingly highlights the interconnected nature of human and non-human health. Continuing the line of thinking by Kortetmäki et al (2020) who introduce the concept of 'planetary wellbeing', care emphasises responsibilities in caring for the environment not only to sustain our own existence but also in securing the possibility for other organisms to do the same.…”

Section: Fsp and Health Conceptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food self-provisioning: a review of health and climate implications

et al. 2023

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The industrial food system is widely considered to be unsustainable due to its undesired climate and negative health effects. One proposed alternative to these problems is a more local system of food provisioning. This means involving individuals, households, and communities in growing and acquiring edibles, like vegetables and other food stuff. This study based on literature review found that food self-provisioning practitioners are mainly driven by health concerns and less by reasoning linked to the environment, like climate change adaptation and mitigation. We propose that the potential of food self-provisioning is underutilized in developing the sustainability of the food system.

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Work in progress: power in transformation to postcapitalist work relations in community–supported agriculture

2023

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Community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives are spaces where diverse work relations are performed. From a postcapitalist perspective, these initiatives attempt to create alternative-capitalist and non-capitalist work relations next to capitalist ones. While analyses of work relations in CSA abound, it remains uncertain how such diversification is made possible and how it is shaped by the micro-politics of and power relations in these initiatives. This paper addresses this gap by analysing how power shapes transformations to postcapitalist work relations in CSA. It provides substantial empirical evidence of multiple manifestations of power enabling or constraining postcapitalist work relations through a comparative case study of three CSA initiatives in Portugal. Results show that while CSA creates postcapitalist work relations that are non-alienated, non-monetised and full of care, they insufficiently unmake unbalanced power relations established in capitalist work relations. This paper argues that, when establishing postcapitalist work relations, the selected CSA initiatives could benefit from actively deconstructing internal hierarchies, de-centralising decision-making power from farm owners and addressing oppressive power relations that are ossified in their local and cultural context.

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Caring dachas

Cited by 10 publications

References 1 publication

Dachas and food democracy—What makes a (good) food citizen?

Dachas and food democracy—What makes a (good) food citizen?

Food self-provisioning: a review of health and climate implications

Work in progress: power in transformation to postcapitalist work relations in community–supported agriculture

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