A new seminar date has just been added to the CCRI Seminar programme.
On Thursday, 22nd February, Alberto Serra, a MSc student in Wageningen University’s rural sociology department, will be presenting ‘(Dis)assembling Alternative Food Networks in Sheffield, UK’. The seminar will take place at the University of Gloucestershire Oxstalls Campus in Room LC102 between 12.15 and 13.15 hrs.
CCRI has collaborated with Wageningen University on several projects and papers and is pleased to provide support to Alberto in his field work in the UK, of which this seminar is part of.
The seminar is free to attend but we ask that you register your attendance on the seminar’s Eventbrite page.
Abstract of presentation:
Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) provide food to local communities while also serving other functions, such as education, using a combination of ecological farming methods, direct distribution strategies and social inclusive approaches that move away from conventional food systems. However, AFNs are widely heterogenous as they can adopt very different practices and values. Further, the development of AFNs is strongly influenced by the contexts within which they are embedded. Their various configurations, in fact, can be seen as markers of their alternativeness with respect to conventional supply chains. Hence, it is necessary to understand what practices and processes characterize AFNs.
In this presentation I outline a proposal to research a community farm and a food cooperative based in Sheffield. Assemblage theory will be used to decompose and recompose AFNs by intersecting practices with historical, cultural and political processes. As a result, it will be possible to briefly describe the organizations and map out the initiatives studied. This will allow me to capture some of the features that influence the conception and development of AFNs.
