Doing Agroecology : democratic practice and social learning in civic food organizations

Abstract

Localization of food networks has been heralded as a way of creating a more just and sustainable food system. This study explores the potential of civic food networks to serve as sites for “really existing” food democracy, providing opportunities for participation and capacity building for democratic organization and learning about food and the food system. Through interviews with participants in a food cooperative and a Transition Towns initiative in the city of Oslo, analysed through a combination of participatory democratic theory and social learning theory, the study shows how civic food initiatives acts as a frame for new civic relationships, and as “practical experiments” in food democracy.