Relational Local Food Networks: The Farmers’ Market @ Queen’s

Alison Blay-Palmer

Abstract
Building links between eaters and growers is a challenging task. This paper follows the creation of an on-campus farmers’ market at Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario) in the spring and fall of 2006.

The enthusiastic demand for local food by students, the university administration and food service institutions contrasts with the cautious interest on the part of the growers. The (re)creation of direct farmer-eater ties clearly exemplifies the relational and contingent nature of local food systems. By rebuilding local connections and moving away from distanced and homogeneous linkages typical of the industrial food system, one discovers the relational networks that are the essence of political, social, ecological and economic interaction.

This paper makes the point that only multifaceted and dynamic theoretical perspectives suffice as we unravel the nuanced and layered stories that are typical of sustainable local food systems.

See the full Paper (PDF)


Source
Presented at the 2007 Social Sciences Symposium at the Guelph Organic Conference


Author Location & Affiliation
Department of Geography, Queen’s University, palmera@post.queensu.ca


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Posted March 2007