The production of urban commons through alternative food practices

Abstract

This paper analyses creation of commons in the urban context from the perspective of alternative food networks. I explore how buying groups produce commons in the urban fabric through their decisions and practices relating to the distribution of organic food. Participatory action research and semi-structured interviews with members of buying groups (GSRs) in Croatia are used to examine the ways in which self-organised citizens manoeuvre through legal entanglements in order to obtain quality food directly from local producers. By collaborative acts of resistance based on solidarity and mutual support, buying groups transform and appropriate public and private spaces into urban commons, in which they regain control over the food they consume. Commoning practices have enabled buying groups (GSRs) to develop resilience and confront the dominant food regime.

CULTIVATING FOOD JUSTICE: Redefining Harvest Sales for Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Low‐Income Cape Town post Covid‐19

“…Such bottom‐up approaches might influence more community members to purchase their harvests. As Slavuj Borčić (2022) has demonstrated, this could create an urban commons where local communities come together to purchase locally cultivated harvests.…”

Experimental urban commons?: Re‐examining urban community food gardens in Cape Town, South Africa

“…These discussions are critical, given the limited availability of healthy food options in the supermarkets and spaza shops (semi‐formal convenience shops) in the area. Urban community gardens play vital roles as alternative food networks and urban commons, crucially disrupting the local corporate food system (Slavuj Borčić, 2022). In areas with limited access to healthy food options in supermarkets and spaza shops, these gardens offer affordable or even free food choices to the local community.…”

“…Traditionally, ‘the commons’ pertained to shared natural resources sustainably governed by local communities. In modern times, the concept has expanded to include urban commons, encompassing public spaces, alternative food movements, commons‐based housing, and urban community gardens (Harvey, 2011; Morrow, 2019; Slavuj Borčić, 2022). In a neoliberal context, urban commons face challenges and undergo continuous evolution.…”

“…Within the commons, the community of users or producers, who collectively determine the methods of production, utilisation, distribution and circulation normally through democratic and horizontal governance structures (Ostrom, 1990). However, in recent years, the discourse on commons has expanded to include urban (green) commons—public spaces, alternative food movements, and urban community gardens (Colding et al., 2013; Harvey, 2011; Morrow, 2019; Slavuj Borčić, 2022).…”

Understanding the market potential of products from alternative food networks in a transition economy—a discrete choice experiment

“…Second, if alternative suppliers are available, organic food is often still cheaper to obtain via AFNs than, for example, from specialised stores (see, e.g. Slavuj Borčić, 2020, for Croatia; Möllers and Bîrhală, 2014, for Romania).…”