Initiating transformation within a Dutch grassroots agri-food initiative: An analysis of social processes

Abstract

This article brings new empirical evidence and nuanced reflections on the social processes of transformation within grassroots agri-food initiatives that propose relocalised, decentralised and autonomous ways of organising around food systems. We facilitated and analysed a fieldlab on the initial phase of designing a participatory guarantee system with a Dutch consumer-buying group (CBG) who explored ways to define, measure and assess sustainable production and consumption in collaboration with its producers. Our analysis focuses on three social processes that emerged from this fieldlab: (a) deepening of community relations around and through agri-food; (b) learning in agri-food initiatives and (c) politicisation of agri-food systems. We analyse the manifestations of and limitations of these three processes concerning the CBG's attempt to become a local food community. We conclude that our findings bring about practical, theoretical and strategic implications to understanding the social dynamics of grassroots agri-food initiatives within and beyond capitalist agri-food systems.