Characterizing alternative food networks in China

Abstract

Amid the many food safety scandals that have erupted in recent years, Chinese food activists and consumers are turning to the creation of alternative food networks (AFNs) to ensure better control over their food. These Chinese AFNs have not been documented in the growing literature on food studies. Based on in-depth interviews and case studies, this paper documents and develops a typology of AFNs in China, including community supported agriculture, farmers' markets, buying clubs, and recreational garden plot rentals. We unpacked the four standard dimensions of alternativeness of AFNs into eight elements and used these to examine the alternativeness of AFNs in China. We argue first that the landscape of alternativeness varies among different networks but the healthfulness of food is the most prominent element. Second, there is an inconsistency in values between AFN initiators and customers, which contributes to the uneven alternativeness of Chinese AFNs. Third, Chinese AFNs are strongly consumer driven, a factor that constrains their alternativeness at present. The inclusion of ''real'' peasants in the construction of AFNs in China is minimal. This paper adds to the existing literature on AFNs with an analysis of recent initiatives in China that have not been well documented before. By unpacking the dimensions of alternativeness into specific elements, this paper also provides an analytical framework for examining the alternativeness of AFNs especially nascent ones that have not developed a full spectrum of alternativeness.

The spaces and times of community farming

“…This is part of what has been referred to elsewhere as a cultural turn in farming and food production, away from intensive and industrialised farming towards what have become known as alternative food networks (Renting et al 2003;Follett 2009;Wilson 2012;Si et al 2015). There is certainly evidence of this in the research, particularly in the UK case studies.…”

“…There is certainly evidence of this in the research, particularly in the UK case studies. Yet, as Pole and Gray (2013) and Si et al (2015) point out, ''community'' can be hard to locate, even for those who do participate in aspects of farming and gardening. This is most clearly the case in China, with many of those involved in the farms feeling isolated from the consumers, most of whom do no more than reserve their produce on-line.…”

“…For others, including Shi et al (2011) and Wittman (2009), new forms of agrarian or ecological citizenship have the therapeutic potential to address the ills of agribusiness (Schneider 2015), promote care of the self (Jarosz 2011;Ravenscroft et al 2013) and heal what Wittman (2009) characterises as the metabolic rift that has opened between society and nature. Indeed, it is widely claimed that an ethic of care, allied to a response to food scares (Sempik and Aldridge 2006;Jarosz 2008Jarosz , 2011Shi et al 2011;Qu and Jiao 2013;Si et al 2015) is a strong motive for many people to get involved in CSA and other such projects.…”

“…Many records of community supported agriculture contain similar details (see, for example, Groh and McFadden 1997;Ravenscroft et al 2013), often with overt reference to the social, pedagogic and therapeutic potential of such institutions (Wells and Gladwell 2001;Jarosz 2011;Ravenscroft et al 2012). Yet we need equally to recognise that not all CSA members experience this (DeLind 1998(DeLind , 2011, nor necessarily want it, certainly in terms of a totalizing notion of community (Mount 2012;Galt 2013;Si et al 2015). Following work by Henderson and Van En (2007), it may be that some kinds of farms or CSAs facilitate therapeutic practices of community-building while others do not, just as some people seek community and others do not.…”

“…In the UK, CSA is an established, if still relatively novel, form of agricultural organisation that is largely counter-cultural in reifying small farms and local food (Saltmarsh et al 2011;Ravenscroft et al 2012Ravenscroft et al , 2013. This is not the case in China, where CSA is very much in the start-up phase and is utterly dominated by consumers (Si et al 2015) despite there being increasing recognition of the need to protect small farms and traditional farmers (Schneider 2015;Liu et al 2016).…”