Countless groups in Europe and around the world are getting active in fields such as “urban gardening”, “community gardens or self-harvest gardens” and “urban agriculture”. By cultivating fruit and vegetables in the middle of the city, they aim to create green oases and lively neighborhoods. At the same time, they see it as a critique of the way that food is grown at present, and want to provide alternatives. They want to use their projects to create visible examples and open laboratories for meaningful and sustainable relationships with nature, society and food.
The case studies from places in Europe, the USA and Brazil featured in the anthology give a new perspective to the role of civil society in switching to sustainable forms of food production. The wide range of studies make it clear how varied the paths to an alternative food system can be and the conditions that are necessary for the change to take place. The positive impact on those taking part is also demonstrated.
The publishers emphasize how interesting it is that urban gardens and other forms of food production in the cities have struck such a chord with people. This became even more apparent during the pandemic.
Original publication
Kropp, C., Antoni-Komar, I. & C. Sage (Eds.) (2020): Food System Transformations. Social Movements, Local Economies, Collaborative Networks. Routledge, London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003131304.
Alternatives to the existing food supply
“The alternative food networks, which is the technical term given to this worldwide movement, relate to a lot of factors at the same time: green infrastructure, green food, regional production and consumption processes, worthwhile employment opportunities, the sense of community with like-minded people, the connection to nature as well as the reappropriation of public spaces”, lists the social scientist Cordula Kropp.
The two authors Cordula Kropp and Clara Da Ros investigated initiatives in the cities of Leipzig and Nantes in the chapter “Alternative food politics: the production of urban food spaces in Leipzig (Germany) and Nantes (France)” in the publication mentioned above. “When choosing the cities we wanted to showcase various initiatives from two different countries”, explains Kropp, “which have different histories on the one hand but which also have factors in common.” Both cities have experienced the negative aspects of structural change such as emigration, unemployment, poverty and exclusion, but also the sense of energy that comes with reinventing themselves.
Alternative food networks in Leipzig
In their publication, the authors describe Leipzig not just as a growing and cosmopolitan city, but also as a much-cited example of the capacity of the creative scene to develop and an active civil society. Leipzig is home to a particularly large and active alternative food networks scene. There are a number of organizations based on community-supported agriculture which are known beyond the region, plenty of community gardens, food co-ops and urban beekeepers, self-harvest gardens, “urban planters” and “edible meadows” as well as a city farm for the children of the city. The social scientists focused on the following three initiatives in particular.
The Annalinde community garden was created in 2011 on municipal land in the west of the city. The people who run Annalinde stress the positive role that collectively-managed vegetable gardens can play in participative urban development. As well as growing fruit and vegetables, activities are also held such as public dinners, collective harvesting and transporting vegetable containers and compost toilets through the city by bike.
The Rote Beete vegetable cooperative is a community-supported agriculture project in the northeast of Leipzig which creates new opportunities for cooperation between city and country through the contractually regulated cooperation between residents of the city and a market garden run on an organic basis. The members give a purchase guarantee for a share of the harvest, and in return receive an insight and influence into food production in their local area. Participants don’t want to be a “feel-good project” for LOHAS (adherent to a “lifestyle of health and sustainability”), but want to create a food supply which will remain viable into the future.
Mundraub is a community-based platform which posts maps online of fruit trees and bushes all over Germany which are freely accessible to the public and organizes activities such as joint tasting sessions and fruit processing.
These initiatives as well as many others form part of the Nachhaltiges Leipzig (Sustainable Leipzig) forum. They invite people to get involved, and as part of the sustainable transformation of the city as well as part of the effort against climate change they want to encourage a more regional focus on food production, economy and energy supply and disengage from the throwaway society, summarizes Cordula Kropp.
Initiatives in Nantes
Nantes, the second city to be investigated as part of the publication, is in the west of France. The authors explain that since the beginning of the industrial decline at the end of the 1980s, the experiences of poverty and exclusion have resulted in the creation of a civil society which is strongly committed to social and ecological causes. The shift towards becoming a city with a service-based economy occurred at the same time as major developments were made in infrastructure and measures taken to enhance public spaces. Today Nantes is mostly known for its wealth of cultural offerings, and was crowned European Green Capital in 2013. Nantes has been described as a “territory of innovation and experimentation when it comes to sustainable food and urban agriculture”. The city has a civil society which doesn't interpret the term ‘urban agriculture’ simply as an alternative way of providing food, but first and foremost as a change in the spatial experience and as a way of promoting social cohesion.
Here too, the social scientists took a closer look at certain initiatives, including an urban farm, a neighborhood garden and an association for urban agriculture as well as associated education projects.
The Petite Ferme Urbaine de Bellevue (www.environnements-solidaires.org) project is an urban farm which wants to work closely with the neighborhood by contributing to its food supply. The initiative combines ecological and social engagement, and gets people living in social housing involved by holding joint planting and harvesting events. The urban farm between apartment blocks also provides space to do things together as families, explained the founder.
The Prairie d’Amont neighborhood garden became a permanent fixture after Nantes was awarded the title of European Green Capital 2013. The green public spaces were created as part of a tender from the local authority. Those taking part in the project also explicitly contribute towards the development of the city. One idea for example is to plant fruit trees in residential areas instead of ornamental trees.
The aim of the Bio-T-Full association is to develop an urban form of agriculture and to spread their ideas by holding education projects. As well as garden design, Bio-T-Fill also covers types of animal husbandry in urban areas (poultry, rabbits, aquaculture and beekeeping).
What all projects in Nantes have in common is that the plan involves a variety of groups, including the socially disadvantaged, emphasizes Clara Da Ros. The urban food movement should not be the preserve of the successful middle classes nor take place in closed communities, but it should happen in a way which brings the town together as a whole and which invites other interested parties to take part.
A better quality of life and an improved urban ecology
As can be seen from the many examples in other cities which are showcased in the anthology, the groups involved don’t combine self-sufficiency in urban gardens and urban agriculture with backwardness, marginalization and poverty, but with an increased quality of life, innovation and an improved urban ecology, the authors Cordula Kropp and Clara Da Ros explain in their publication. The movement is about getting to grips with questions regarding food, bringing nature to the city, planning life in a sustainable city and doing everything together as a community.
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