Gleaned, grown and gifted : the significance of social food economies in productive cities

Abstract

As cities house more than half of the world's population they have become a focal point for concerns regarding sustainable and equitable futures, with the environmental consequences of consumerism and food insecurity being of particular concern. Rather than believe that cities are the cause of all that is unsustainable, this dissertation tenders the concept of the 'productive city' - that cities can contribute to food security and environmental sustainability by becoming both food consumptive and productive sites. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) offer alternative pathways of food procurement and environmental awareness that could provide solutions to future issues of urban food sustainability. AFNs emerged in the 1990s as a reaction against the globalization, standardization, and unethical nature of the capitalist industrial food system. However, celebrations of AFNs have been criticised for: their numerous exclusionary dynamics, the lack of distinction between various forms and what is happening in the Global North and South, and the corrosive influence of the capitalist market on activist goals. Acknowledging these limitations, this thesis focuses on a form of food procurement that is often hidden or overlooked: urban, non-capitalist food economies. In this dissertation I ask: What is the significance of non-capitalist food economies for food security, sustainability and social change towards the productive city? It describes qualitative and ethnographic research undertaken among three communities that engage in the gleaning, growing, and gifting of foods in Sydney, Australia, and compares these three approaches with the Venezuelan food sovereignty movement that represents part of the transition from capitalism to socialism. Integrating the findings helps to overcome the limitations of class, race and place present in AFN literature. The study reveals that various non-capitalist food economies exist in cities in the Global North and South. In Australia, initiatives are disparate and random with the majority of participants from well-educated, middle-class backgrounds with primarily environmental motivations. They are not about food insecurity, but instead offer fresh, diverse ingredients that ascribe cultural, moral and new use values to wasted plants, people and places. In contrast, the Venezuelan food sovereignty movement represents a nationally networked system that provides affordable basic food items foremost for the majority poor. This socialist approach has increased overall domestic food production and distributes essential items to the poorest regions. However, national politics dominates all else, threatening food availability while politically and culturally some people remain resistant to the Bolivarian Revolution. This research highlights the challenges to non-capitalist alternatives, whether initiated by either government or the grassroots. It portrays the 'productive city' in two very different lights - from geographically and materially 'fringe' food procurement in the Global North to a highly politicized, polarized nation-wide food system in the Global South. Yet, social tensions arise in both contexts through trying to articulate non-capitalist economies with the capitalist system. By examining the productive city from the Global North and South, the research highlights persistent issues of class and politics in both Australian and Venezuelan alternative food initiatives that will require overcoming in the pursuit of a productive city that is sustainable, just and food secure.