Practices of Food Sovereignty in Italy and England: Short Food Supply Chains and the Promise of De‐Commodification

Abstract

Alternative food networks are organisations of consumers and food producers that oversee and promote the functioning of short food supply chains, with the aim of fostering a direct and local exchange between producers and consumers. New shortchain economic infrastructures provide food producers -especially small-scale farmers -with a whole new set of commercial opportunities, directed towards the construction of an alternative food economy. But how does value circulate within these innovative economic platforms? And what values are debated, negotiated and exchanged through these circuits? Employing the analytical lenses of de-commodification and embeddedness, this article discusses the modalities and outcomes of the processes of value-creation and value-appropriation that spring out of the direct exchange occurring between consumers and food producers in the alternative food economy. Based on empirical data collected through extensive qualitative field research in Italy and England, the article exposes the dynamics and limits of the on-going processes of de-commodification, proposing an analysis centred on the concept of 'partial' de-commodification. This conceptual tool is used to assess the differences that emerged between the Italian and English fields, and to provide conclusive remarks about the potential of place-and culture-specific configurations of practices to advance a transformation of the food system.

Regeneration at a distance from the state: From radical imaginaries to alternative practices in Dutch farming

“…As the costs are covered by pooling the resources of a community as a whole, each can carry their share and allow the farmers to produce in a way that both regenerates land for future generations and better integrates farming within the constraints of natural systems. Solidarity payments represent a 'partial de-commodification' (Matacena & Corvo, 2020), as they still operate within a market-based paradigm of production and exchange. However, they also work to shift customer subjectivities and bring the use value of food to the fore for those involved.…”

“…As food and agriculture are re-embedded into natural systems, they are also de-commodifiedthe use values of land, food and the labour that produces it are brought to the fore in place of exchange values (Matacena & Corvo, 2020). This marks a shift away from a system driven by atomisation and extracting profit at any cost and towards a relational system based on co-operative productive activity that also reproduces the conditions necessary for individual and socioecological wellbeing (Bauwens et al, 2019;Duncan et al, 2020;Kelly, 2012).…”

Sustainable Food Supply Chains: Is Shortening the Answer? A Literature Review for a Research and Innovation Agenda

“…Moreover, in the context of rising consumer gluten-sensitivity, geneticists, microbiologists and agronomists have also analysed the gluten quality of these products, in relation to consumers' evaluations [121,122]. However, more research is needed to assess how SFSCs de-commodify food, both culturally [123] and technologically, and generate new quality standards, beyond the scope of both industrial products and geographical indication labelling schemes, and procure diverse, safe food that is accessible to all. These on-going processes could also provoke new sanitary risks, as these chains may imply non-professionals (e.g., consumers contributing to food transportation logistics, consumer cooperatives), a topic that requires further investigation.…”

La soberanía alimentaria en el desarrollo local

“…De igual manera, se organizan divisiones organizativas a pequeña escala que organizan ventas sin comercio intermedio y están comprometidos con la privatización del agua o las cargas tributarias inapropiadas, incluyendo las necesidades de las personas particularmente afectadas por la pobreza. Por ejemplo, los comestibles que no se vendieron en los mercados de agricultores se distribuyen a los necesitados de forma gratuita por la noche (Matacena & Corvo, 2019).…”