As alternative food movements sweep the US in the name of sustainability, justice, and health—as well as wresting back control from corporations—people are encouraged to reconnect with our food origins, and to “know... [ view full abstract ]
As alternative food movements sweep the US in the name of sustainability, justice, and health—as well as wresting back control from corporations—people are encouraged to reconnect with our food origins, and to “know [our] farmers, [and] know our food” (USDA 2012). Many people appear to be heeding this call: farm-to-table restaurants abound, farmer’s markets are thriving and expanding, and community supported agriculture is growing at a rapid pace. However, the visions of re-localized food systems underpinning these initiatives can often emphasize a nostalgic agrarian rural imaginary that stands in stark contrast to contemporary rural agricultural realities. Too, as this idyllic vision is enacted, the images and perspectives of farmers may be paradoxically appropriated, underrepresented, or even misrepresented in food movement discourse in spite of early, concerted efforts to “bring the farmer back in” (e.g. see Kloppenburg 1991). Characterizations and images of farmers also draw upon antiquated visions of Jeffersonian sole proprietors that have little in common with today’s diverse rural producers. Thus is it perhaps not surprising that even as food writers, activists, scholars, and both government and market-based initiatives all emphasize face-to-face connections with farmers, the entrenched US rural-urban divide widens. Amidst the excitement generated by alternative food system initiatives, several questions have been left largely unexplored: What are farmers’ and ranchers’ experiences of participation and/or exclusion in the food movement? Moreover, does their participation in local food initiatives differ meaningfully from more conventional practices, in which rural producers serve consumer markets in powerful metropoles? To what extent is the rural-urban divide reconfigured or reconciled within local food systems initiatives?
To explore these questions, we draw first upon content analysis of alternative food system events, conferences, symposia, and popular food blogs, in order to systematically examine ways that the perspectives of farmers and ranchers are represented in alternative food systems discourse. Second, through in-depth interviews with farmers and ranchers who serve farm-to-table restaurants, farmer’s markets, and community supported agriculture initiatives, we explore the perceptions and experiences farmers and ranchers have of the food movement. Finally, we triangulate this data with in-depth interviews with chefs, food writers, farmer’s market managers, and scholars. We conclude our analysis with recommendations that aim to bridge rural-urban divides within agriculture generally, and the local food movement specifically.
