Re-territorialising skills? Insights from ethnography on solidarity-economy food activism

Abstract

The article addresses the role of citizens in setting up short food chains in the framework of the solidarity economy movement in Lombardy, Italy. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork with solidarity economy activists and longitudinal ethnography (2009–2023), the article critically analyses solidarity-driven experimentations with local food systems, including direct bulk-buying from farmers and setting up a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) to self-certify organic agriculture quality standards as attempts at (re)territorialising the food chain. This implies innovative relationships and practices connecting farmers and consumers in a role for citizens as ‘co-producers’. Hurdles and dilemmas about trust, skill, and transparency question which role citizens can take as levers of change. Addressing one of the questions posed in this special issue (“what is the place of citizens and collectives in innovative supply chains?”), the article reflects on what kind of skills are required, and perhaps lacking, for a more active involvement of citizens in ‘co-production’. The article focusses on (1) how trust between producer and consumer is supposed to be engendered in relations of proximity, (2) the reciprocal performance of expected roles among consumers and farmers, (3) the difficulties of evidencing reciprocal transparency without negotiating mutual reskilling.