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Farming for food? : local ways to enhance global food supply - and beyond : an ethnographic case study from a biodynamic community-supported farm in El Bolsón, Argentina

Konrad, Theres LU (2015) In Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science MESM02 20151
LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
Abstract
A growing world population confronts humanity and the planet with several challenges due to its increased demand for food, space and energy, implying changes in land use. While agriculture currently provides enough food, it is destroying biodiversity and hence aggravates the planet ́s vulnerability to climate change. A paradigm shift might therefore be needed. Applying a political ecology lens, complemented with thoughts of the concept of deep democracy, the purpose of this research was to explore the potential of alternative forms of agriculture in guaranteeing local food supply and preserving the environment. Furthermore, the role of a farm community for a transformation to a more sustainable paradigm at and beyond the local level was... (More)
A growing world population confronts humanity and the planet with several challenges due to its increased demand for food, space and energy, implying changes in land use. While agriculture currently provides enough food, it is destroying biodiversity and hence aggravates the planet ́s vulnerability to climate change. A paradigm shift might therefore be needed. Applying a political ecology lens, complemented with thoughts of the concept of deep democracy, the purpose of this research was to explore the potential of alternative forms of agriculture in guaranteeing local food supply and preserving the environment. Furthermore, the role of a farm community for a transformation to a more sustainable paradigm at and beyond the local level was explored. Inspired by action research and Social and Cultural Anthropology, an ethnographic case study, combining participant observation with interviews at a biodynamic community-supported farm in El Bolsón, Argentina was conducted. The investigation reveals that this farm significantly contributes to the community ́s local food supply while treating the environment respectfully. Furthermore, this research highlights that the farm delivers food for thought, while strengthening social faculties. Moreover, in the case of this Argentinian farm a belief in bottom-up grass-root movements was detected to overcome the dominant capitalistic paradigm. However, literature underlines the importance of the political level. This thesis therefore suggests that community-supported farms, such as the one studied here, can be seen as spaces of empowerment and potential generators of a paradigm shift – provided that a vision of change rather than a market orientation is their foundation and an agrarian citizenship is practiced. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Konrad, Theres LU
supervisor
organization
course
MESM02 20151
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Argentina, community-supported agriculture (CSA), global food supply, power dynamics, sustainability science
publication/series
Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science
report number
2015:010
funder
The Right Livelihood Award Foundation
language
English
id
5464143
date added to LUP
2015-06-04 14:51:50
date last changed
2015-06-04 14:51:50
@misc{5464143,
  abstract     = {{A growing world population confronts humanity and the planet with several challenges due to its increased demand for food, space and energy, implying changes in land use. While agriculture currently provides enough food, it is destroying biodiversity and hence aggravates the planet ́s vulnerability to climate change. A paradigm shift might therefore be needed. Applying a political ecology lens, complemented with thoughts of the concept of deep democracy, the purpose of this research was to explore the potential of alternative forms of agriculture in guaranteeing local food supply and preserving the environment. Furthermore, the role of a farm community for a transformation to a more sustainable paradigm at and beyond the local level was explored. Inspired by action research and Social and Cultural Anthropology, an ethnographic case study, combining participant observation with interviews at a biodynamic community-supported farm in El Bolsón, Argentina was conducted. The investigation reveals that this farm significantly contributes to the community ́s local food supply while treating the environment respectfully. Furthermore, this research highlights that the farm delivers food for thought, while strengthening social faculties. Moreover, in the case of this Argentinian farm a belief in bottom-up grass-root movements was detected to overcome the dominant capitalistic paradigm. However, literature underlines the importance of the political level. This thesis therefore suggests that community-supported farms, such as the one studied here, can be seen as spaces of empowerment and potential generators of a paradigm shift – provided that a vision of change rather than a market orientation is their foundation and an agrarian citizenship is practiced.}},
  author       = {{Konrad, Theres}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Master Thesis Series in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science}},
  title        = {{Farming for food? : local ways to enhance global food supply - and beyond : an ethnographic case study from a biodynamic community-supported farm in El Bolsón, Argentina}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}