Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS
)
ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABLE FOOD
CONSUMPTION.
Francesca Varotto (10863699)Master Human Geography
Master Thesis Human Geography (73541020040) From Consuming to Producing
Dr. Lia Karsten 31/01/2016
Acknowledgements ... 4 Abstract ... 5 Chapter I ... 6 Introduction ... 6 1.1 The geography of food studies ... 6 1.2 Rationale ... 7 1.3 Relevance ... 8 1.4 Thesis structure ... 8 1.5 Research aims and research question ... 8 Chapter II ... 10
Literature Review and Theoretical Background ... 10
2.1 Sustainable food alternativeness ... 10
2.1.1 Organic food: from alternative … ... 11
2.1.2 …to mainstream. ... 14
2.2 Green Consumption ... 15
2.2.1 Linking Consumption and Identity ... 15
2.2.2 Consumption practices and behaviour ... 17
2.2.3 Consumption in urban sustainability transitions ... 18
2.3 Core concepts ... 19
Chapter III ... 20
Methodology ... 20
3.1 Research Design ... 20
3.1.1 Research Context: The City of Amsterdam ... 22
3.2 Unit of analysis: case studies selection ... 22
3.2.1 Vokomokum: the collective consumers ... 23
3.2.2 Marqt: the individual consumers ... 25
3.3 Method ... 26
3.4 Data collection ... 27
3.4.1 Overview of participant in the analysis ... 27
3.5 Limitations ... 29
3.6 Ethics ... 30
Chapter IV ... 31
Socio-cultural background of alternative consumers ... 31
4.1 Background analysis: socio demographic feature of consumers ... 31
4.2 Reason to join ... 33
4.2.1 Participating in the Vokomokum cooperative ... 33
4.2.2 Retail Shopping at Marqt ... 39
4.3 Justifying organic food choice ... 41
4.4 Summary ... 43
Chapter V ... 44
Consumer practices and behaviour ... 44
5.1 Purchased products ... 44 5.1.1 Vokomokum consumers ... 44 5.1.2 Marqt consumers ... 46 5.2 Purchasing criteria ... 47 5.3 Retail searching process ... 48 5.4 Green lifestyle attitudes ... 52 5.5. Summary ... 53 Chapter VI ... 54
Discussion and Conclusion ... 54
6.1 Enhancing the sustainability transition ... 54
6.2 Limitations of the research ... 57
6.3 Future research ... 58
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank Lia Karsten whose source of guidance throughout the development of initial ideas, as well as availability and support in the stages that followed proved invaluable to the production of this thesis. In general terms, I extend my gratitude to the Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS) faculty and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) for not only allowing me the opportunity to study a Master in Human Geography, but also providing me with the means and facilities to write the following thesis.
Additionally, without the constant words of encouragement, inspiration and reassurance from family and friends throughout the production of this thesis, in particular those from Carmen Perez del Pulgar, Jimmy Laycock, Gianluca Magagna and Giulia Salmaso, beginning with its origins through to its concluding phase, the following thesis would not have been possible.
Last but by no means least; I would like to thank my interview participants who spared time out of their busy schedules to be admirable subjects for the process of primary research.
Abstract
Striving for continuous improvements in terms of sustainable and ethical choices, consumers – especially in Western societies – are changing their food consumption habits toward alternative food. This research will consider the recent growth in organic food consumption among urban citizens as a way to green and make their lifestyle more sustainable. Two non-conventional purchasing modalities will be at the core of this study. The first one will consider those practices that are individually undertaken while the second ones are collectively organized. Understanding how these two consumption practices differ, how they are embedded in space and how consumers engaged with them prompts some basic considerations about the nature of sustainable consumption performances in the city context. The purpose of this research is to understand possibilities and constraints of different purchasing modalities in respects to the attempt of make urban food consumption more sustainable.
Chapter I Introduction
1.1 The geography of food studies
Food is an increasingly debated topic, the object of study of a wide spectrum of different – often cut crossing - disciplines, and sub disciplines. As such, a popular field of human geography is geography of food. Geographically speaking, studies on food – its production and consumption - bring together theories of both natural and social sciences, thus recurrently emphasising and paying attention to the social relations that are embedded within food spaces of production and consumption. As Niles and Roff (2008) argue, ‘Much of the current geographic work on food and agriculture can be traced back to a body of scholarship concerned with describing the structural dimension of what was gradually seen to be a dominant, exclusive, and global-scale post-War system of food production and consumption (Niles and Roff, 2008: 1). Today, global food production is generally locally clustered – especially in the rural areas of the global South – yet it is globally distributed – feeding the increasing world urban population (Patel, 2008). This turn has been strongly determined by ‘productivist policies’ of globalisation of resources, networks, and economic capital (Niles and Robin, 2013: 2). It would be naïve to think that food production is still attached to vernacular rural traditions and techniques; scale and spaces of food production are extremely hard to frame in the contemporary globalised food regime. Globalisation and technological advance have fostered productivist policies of food around the world to match its production to the demand of its consumer market. Food has become a commodity good whereby to many, especially those living in the West, scale and space are not limiting factors.
Because of this commodification of food industry and an increasing disconnection with food as a material and non-material good, many consumers today are moving their preferences from conventional food to alternative food choices. Most common in urban areas in the western world, alternative food consumption alternatives have become available in varying forms, yet what they all claim to be is sustainable and offering consumers with a real opportunity to make a viable green consumption choice.
The following study focuses on food consumption; as such, a geographical framework in which food consumption is conceived requires explanation to provide wider understanding of the topic. Consumption and production will be considered as interdependent and interconnected
processes, embedded in spatial and temporal relational contexts. Geographies of relation emphasise the connection between production and consumption; hence, they are not two separate stages in the food commodity life but they are together embedded in a production-consumption network of social, political and economic relationships. Furthermore, this dimension draws the attention to consumers’ behavioural profile and practices’ performance by analysing ‘how individuals become consumers and do consumption in multiple social and spatial contexts’ (Mansvelt, 2010: 224). However, consumer actions are embedded directly in the food production realm; Lockie and Kitto (2000) have theorised the relation between consumers and producers as symmetrical, underlying the importance of the role of agency and to common material and symbolic cooperation.
1.2 Rationale
The impending research analysis, which focuses upon the relationship between consumption practices and alternative food is driven by two key factors. Firstly, stemming from the observation of some tangible changings in food retailing and consumption, the author has recognised that as alternative specialised organic and bio food shops are thriving in western societies. Conventional supermarkets are supplying their clients not only with conventional food, but their shelves are increasingly filled with organic food brands owing to specific demands in food production and quality. Indeed, ‘organic market growth is consumer-led’ (Raynolds, 2004: 732), which highlights the theory that food consumption choices have in recent times become more conscious. Ultimately, there are many reasons behind the display and consumption of more sustainable and ethical products; there might be different levels of engagement in undertaking alternative consumption practices collectively rather than individually, and antithetical material and non-material meanings that consumers give to food.
Secondly, as the author has previously engaged with food studies, the transformative nature of the discipline since her last piece of research, which explored food sovereignty, has been noted. Her first academic piece of work focused on the right to food, as a universal human right; in order to understand how this right is ensured to human beings she conducted a fieldwork in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she could analyse the impact of the Buenos Aires food bank in the urban context of the metropolitan capital district. Conclusions that arose from this previous work, together with an active personal interest in food production and consumption, have led to the desire to further investigate the topic of food studies, which is so transformative and diverse across space and time, thus partially justifying this research within a new context.
1.3 Relevance
A Consumption practice is not a simplistic action; it can be viewed as an explanation and providing insight into identity, economic status, political beliefs and cultural background. Consumption is undertaken by people, both as single individuals and as collective group being embedded in different spatial and temporal dimensions. The relational feature of consumption practices may acquire new meanings and insightful perspectives if related to food. Food is what sustains human life, thus it is exceptionally relevant if conceptualized in relation to social purposes and also when addressed to broader political and economical implications.
Food production and its sustainable practices traditionally belonged in the rural spheres, which provided the space to produce by those who had a greater understanding of the value of the land; nevertheless, in recent years, citizens, especially those in western urban areas, have become more and more concerned with alternative food consumption practices with the twofold intention to green their lives and their cities. Relatedly, this topic can then be understood from an urban planning viewpoint; as Campbell argues ‘(…) the environmental planner sees the city as a consumer of resources and a producer of wastes. The city is in competition with nature for scarce resources and land, and always poses a threat to nature’ (Campbell, 2007:298). The city is traditionally seen as detrimental to sustainable practices surrounding nature, but the following research, by using the lens of food consumption, will aim to show that this battle with nature is not necessarily in-line with the practices and choices of its urban dwellers.
1.4 Thesis structure
In an attempt to achieve a better understanding of sustainable food consumption practices, this thesis is structured as follows: Chapter II will provide a contextual background, reviewing the progresses and status quo of the literature on alternative food consumption and system of provision, green consumption practices and urban sustainability. Chapter III will discuss the methodology used to accomplish the aim of the research; the researcher basing the study in Amsterdam and interviewing two groups of organic consumers. Chapter IV and chapter V will present the results of the investigation by critically reporting consumers’ responses. Chapter VI will elicit a discussion and conclusion of the research results, referring back to important issues presented in the literature.
1.5 Research aims and research question
This thesis aims to understand how varying patterns of alternative consumption can foster the transition into creating a more sustainable urban food system. To recognise this difference, two
singular sustainable consumption pathways are at the core of the empirical investigation; one of these units of analysis is represented by a collective group of consumers who are members of a food cooperative; the second consists of individual consumers who selected an organic specialised shop as their purchasing location.
Through a comparative analysis, this thesis has the twofold aim of outlining the socio-cultural background of consumers and their food consumption behaviour and practices. With this in mind, two research sub-questions have been constructed:
1) What similarities and differences can be observed in the socio-cultural background of consumers at two distinct sustainable food consumption pathways?
2) What similarities and differences of consumer practices and behaviour emerge at two distinct sustainable food consumption pathways?
These sub-questions will help to answer the following research question, which represents the overall objective of this thesis:
- How two distinct alternative pathways of sustainable food consumption foster the urban sustainability transition?
Chapter II
Literature Review and Theoretical Background
The ultimate success of a research project lies in the critical understanding of the core concepts it debates. Consequently, this chapter will critically analyse the existing literature by conceptualising and defining the intertwining concepts of green consumption practices and sustainability in order to ascertain their appropriateness, and potential drawbacks in explaining and addressing sustainable pathways of food consumption. Before this, an introductive section will outline the recent changes in food consumption patters that have led to a switch from non-conventional food to alternative.
The first section reviews the existing literature concerned with alternative food, examining consumers’ recent reversal of trends towards non-conventional food. In doing so, it will highlight the main reasons why consumers select organic and local food and what has been the logic behind the development of its consumption in the food market. Furthermore, an additional yet essential section will remark how food consumption changes are embodied in new sites of production and supply systems (alternative food networks). The second section will unpack the concepts of green consumption, from its origins to its adoption in relation to food. Significantly, a number of subsections will link the existing literature concerning consumption with identity (2.2.1), practices and behaviours (2.2.2) and sustainability transition (2.2.3). The third and final section will illustrate the core concepts that will form the basis of this research.
2.1 Sustainable food alternativeness
‘Modern fast, processed food is a disaster. That, at least, is the message conveyed by newspaper and magazine, on television cooking programs, and in prizewinning books’1. With these
lines historian Rachel Laudan begins her recently published article ‘A plea for Culinary Modernism’; although the article is purposely an historic overview of the causes and consequences of the modern global food system, she makes the point clear enough: consumers are changing their dietary habits, seeking for more alternative food products. These alternatives often oppose the more conventional choices such as the favouring of mass produced food sold at supermarkets around the world, as Laudan stresses ‘(…) evocative dichotomies: fresh and natural versus processed and preserved; local
versus global; slow versus fast: artisanal and traditional versus urban and industrial; healthful versus contaminated and fatty’.
Many scholars have attempted in their research to outline commonalities and differences among the alternative food eating - and consumption – habits that consumers are pursuing in order to make their food purchases more sustainable. Literature on alternative food trends is wide and very diversified, whereby information about consumers’ motivation and deterrents to buy alternative food are disseminated. This first section tries to shed light upon two key consumer concerns: eating organic and eating local.
2.1.1 Organic food: from alternative …
Eating organic is a diffusing pattern, and a suitable and appropriate case for analysing food consumption practices towards the sustainable. As Park (2011) argues, ‘organic food is a movement that values sustainable food, higher level of nutrition and food safety, and environmentally responsible agriculture’ (Park, 2011: 120).
These new dietary and consumption habits ‘can be seen as a challenge to the dominant food production system’ (Smith, 2006 cited in Spaargaren et al., 2012: 138); specifically, choosing organic food means preferring a product that is the result of a different method of production. Organic farming implements cultivation techniques that reject the standardised industrial methods of food production and processing; exogenous factors such as - inter alia - the globalisation and the commodification of food industry, and the recent expansion of the agro-food business are just two of the causes that accelerate the intensification and industrialisation of the food production which is undermining sustainability (McMicheal, 2009; Murdoch & Miele, 1999; Niles & Roff, 2008).
Engineering, technological and scientific human-led discoveries, as well as an improvement in agricultural practices, have allowed an unprecedented expansion of the productivity of the agricultural land in view of the growing worldwide demand for food. However, a quantitative amelioration of food production had not coincided with an equal increase in quality; the substantial use of pesticides, fertilizers, and chemical agents in agriculture is today threatening the environment, climate change, human health and biodiversity (Ciccarese, 2012).
Pioneers of organic food are traced back to the 70s when environmental activism was seen as a way to bring man vs nature questions into the public spotlight; food activists became successful too,
by creating a supportive and inspiring milieu in opposition to the industrialised food system of production:
‘The network came to function as niches of alternative food production and consumption, stimulating small-scale growers to work naturally or ecologically soundly, without artificial fertilizer and pesticides. (…) The demand for naturally grown vegetables and fruits was promoted by distributors centres that were located in such a way as to promote short supply chains and direct contact between producers and consumers’ (Spaargaren et al., 2012: 67).
Today, consumers buy organic food with the twofold intention of promoting human health and defending environmental sustainability by choosing food products that, because of the non-use of chemicals, are both better for their healthiness and friendly to the environment (Hughner et al., 2007). Whereas according to Tarrow, the term ‘organic’ was originally used to define a non-conventional mode of performing agricultural practices, the concept has assumed a ‘frame-bridging capacity’ (Tarrow, 2002: 243 cited in Larsson, 2014) and is recurrently used in regard to ‘new areas of food production, principally relating to dairy and meat’ (Larsson, 20124: 741). This explains why other reasons have been found to be relevant among existing literature: organic food is understood to not only taste better, but to aid support of animal well-being, local economies and also to link people with cooking traditions (Campbell & Liepins, 2001; Hughner, et al. 2007; Lockie et al., 2002; Michaelidou & Hassan; 2007; Morgan, 2010; Seyfang, 2007a; Seyfang, 2007b). Despite this overall growth and preference towards organic food consumption, many deterring circumstances have been found to discourage consumers from going organic. These are mainly related to the high market price of organic produce, scepticism towards labelling and certification criteria, inadequate marketing and contentment with more conventional food options (Hughner, 2007).
Another way of perpetuating sustainable food choices is to purchase local produce. In an attempt to reconnect with sites of production and consumption, individuals often choose to buy and consume locally produced and vended food. Consuming local food is a way thought in which consumers constrict food miles, thus reducing carbon emissions and contributing to reach higher sustainability levels in the food system (Coley et al., 2009). The consumers are actively choosing to restrict the supply chain of the food they purchase which therefore leads to a preference towards locally produced goods that are loosely aligned with a range of space and community-based characteristics. As Feenstra argues, local food provisions ‘tend to be place-based, drawing on the unique attributes of a particular bioregion and its population to define and support themselves’ (2002: 100 cited in Spaargaren et al, 2014: 136). A consequence of this consumption turn is the growth of specialised local food systems such as that of alternative food networks and solidarity purchasing groups which, in opposition to the mainstream traditional supply chain, try to ‘bring along the checks
and balances necessary for sustainable resources use as they create direct interaction between producers and consumers of food’ (Spaargaren et al., 2014: 136).
Urban agriculture is believed to be the bedrock that maintains the power to create a tangible transition. As Wiskerke (2009) argues, the re-localisation of food production, especially in urban spheres where populations are more concentrated, can ‘minimize the physical and social distance between producers and consumers, create and strengthen home market and regional trade (…) and reconnect, re-embed, re-entwine’ people with their territory (Wiskerke, 2009: 380). Fostering a sustainable food production system is an increasingly shared idea but, as Dahlberg (1993) notes, the success of sustainable agriculture is dependent on the extent to which other parts of the food system and the rest of society also become more sustainable (Ibidem). Ultimately, alternative food networks are contributing to the easing of the established horizontal food system of provision and the shortening of supply chains (Mansvelt, 2005; Wattset al., 2005).
‘Alternative food networks (AFN) refers to a whole range of food production, distribution and retail activities presented as alternative to conventional food systems, including farmers’ markets, direct marketing schemes, community supported agriculture, vegetable box delivery schemes, community gardens and food cooperatives.’ (Harris, 2010: 355)
Alternative food networks where production and consumption are locally concentrated are particularly present in Italy, a nation that upholds an enduring tradition of solidarity economy districts. Solidarity Purchasing Groups (SPG) in Italy act in a manner that is beyond ethical consumerism in its ontological definition. According to Grasseni (2014b), SPG maintain the same characteristics of a typical alternative food network; however, they provide an additional degree of ‘novelty in relational, political, and ecological terms, to respect to their capacity to forge new partnership between consumers and producers’ (Ibidem: 178). Through an ethnographical research Grasseni investigated how these groups establish solidarity links, underlying that SPG members succeed not only in shaping ethical consumption practices, but also in engaging with co-production activities (Ibidem). Internal organisation and dynamics of these groups are based on trust, informality, consensus building, democracy; citizens who join these groups are likely to be engaged in ‘cooperative relationship (…) with farmers and producers’ and creating ‘economy of trust, allowing producers and consumers to achieve their goals ethically not by exiting the market but rather by accessing it on one’s own terms’ (Grasseni, 2014b:189). Solidarity Purchasing Groups can be grouped inside the realm of food activists (Grasseni, 2014a). Consequently, they are also recognised as a political ‘grassroots movement that promotes changes in individual behaviour as a way to achieve greater environmental and social justice’ (Graziano & Forno, 2012).
The forthcoming research will draw upon this presence of alternative food networks in Italy and attempt to evidence the presence of such organic food organisations in Amsterdam, albeit in different locally contextualised forms.
2.1.2 …to mainstream.
Organic food industry is marked by a fast-paced growth; in 2012 the world organic food market size was valued to be worth almost 64 billion US dollars, encompassing 37.5 million of hectares of farmland distributed mainly in Oceania and Europe, where 5.6% of the cultivable land is organic (FiBL and IFOAM, 2014). According to global statistics, organic ‘growth is occurring in all regions; however, the demand for organic products is mainly in North America and Europe (…) sales are projected to continue to rise in the coming years’ (FiBL and IFOAM, 2014: 26).
Organic food has become mainstream and more available over the last 10-15 years as consumer awareness and demand has increased. As Spaargaren et al. argue:
‘Over time, some interaction took place between the organic and the conventional food system, maintaining the basic principles of organic production but rising to the convenience, availability and cost demands of conventional food practices. Buying organic food in supermarkets clearly fits into this trend towards convenience’ (Spaargaren et al., 2012: 140)
This broader acceptance of organic food in conventional supermarkets and food stores is shaping a new trend in the ‘distribution trajectories of global organic networks’; although local organic food production has always been sufficient for domestic demand satisfaction, the recent remarkable rise in biological food demand obliged western countries to consistently rely on international ‘organic imports, especially from the South’ (Raynolds, 2004:732). As the organic market has grown, consumer demand has become more varied and specialised, often including tropical or counter-seasonal fruit and vegetable, but also canned or processed food, and fair-trade (Raynolds, 2004). Mainstream organic produce is actually distributed through traditional channels of distribution, which follows ‘industrial and commercial conventions rooted in efficiency, standardization and price competitiveness’ (Spaargaren et al., 2012: 141). This normalisation of the organic food distribution and consumption has questioned the initial purposes of organic agriculture; as Niles and Roff (2008) state:
‘Recent discussion of the ‘conventionalisation’ of organic agriculture further challenge the ‘alternativeness’ (…) Increasing demand for organic produce and healthy food is matched by industry attempt to meet this demand, but through a productive and logic antagonistic to the historic agro-ecological ideals of organic production’ (Niles & Roff, 2008: 4)
Having outlined differences between alternative and mainstream choices in organic food consumption it is fundamental to therefore understand how consumers engage with these diverse consumption realms, and what the main motivations are that drive their green choices.
2.2 Green Consumption
The healthy presence of organic food consumption is lumped under the umbrella of green consumption and is considered a symbol of social status, shaping the identity and lifestyle of consumers. The notion of green consumption first crops up in 1970, ‘as societal marketing expanded to include environmental issues’ (Peattie, 2010:197), as a concept it arose from the environmentalism movement that became popular in western countries approximately a decade previous (Prothero, 2008).
Nowadays, green consumption is ‘perceived as an element of environmental reform’ both within national and supra-national entities (Prothero, 2008:118); governments and institutions acknowledge consumers ‘responsibility or co-responsibility (with producers) for addressing environmental problems through the adoption of environmentally friendly lifestyles’. Consumers who engaged with green consumption practices generally favour low-impact products.
Engagement in green food consumption practice is not just a matter relating to environmental concern, but also ‘concerns regarding personal safety or enjoyment, (and) ecological or altruistic concerns regarding social health’ (Lockie et al., 2002: 24); as for the transformation of the organic niche system into a mainstream market, scholars have theorised that this new green wave is likely to become as black as the one it is trying to ‘sweep away’. As Akenji argues, the existence of ‘limits to green consumption as a driver of sustainability highlights the risk that continuous consumerism, albeit green, could drive the planetary system beyond recoverable limits (…)’ (2014: 22).
The following subsections will focus upon the relationship between green consumption, consumer identity, consumption practices and behaviour, as well as the role of green consumption in the sustainability transition.
2.2.1 Linking Consumption and Identity
Food is central to our sense of identity (…) and is central to individual identity, in that any given human individual is constructed, biologically, psychologically and socially by the food he/she choses to incorporate. (Fischler, 1988: 275).
Many scholars have focused on the relationship between consumption and identity formations. Perhaps the most important piece of work, which represents the starting point of several contemporary studies on this topic, is ‘Distinction’ by Pierre Bourdieu (Bourdieu, 1984).
Bourdieu contributes sociological insight to notions of consumption and social stratification, his main point of analysis being that the mechanisms of differentiation, which are generated by the adoption of different lifestyles, are linked to personal taste and cultural preferences, these are in turn influenced by social origin, education, and economical capital. According to Bourdieu, consumption practices are the result of personal tastes that almost always correspond to collective tastes; they are what classify and differentiate groups of consumers from one another.
Tastes are socially conditioned and that the objects of consumer choice reflect a symbolic hierarchy that is determined and maintained by the socially dominant in order to enforce their distance or distinction from other classes of society (Allen & Anderson, 1994: 70)
Through the action of consumption, social differences are reproduced and reaffirmed, so that even what is believed to be the most intimate taste can actually be linked back to acceptable social norms. The consumption sphere is indeed a ‘field of power relationship where human-consumer agency interacts with structure’; on one hand consumer agency is represented by ‘knowledge, skills, experience, abilities, modes of thought and world-views’ (Allen and Anderson, 1994: 70).
Consequently, it can be theorised that socio-cultural background plays an important role in shaping our consumer choices; personal and cultural preferences that have been acquired over time are continually used as tools to reaffirm positions within society. On the other hand, structure is represented by all those elements that ‘determine the opportunity set within individual actors to live out their lives and produce their practices which come to associate with specific class location’ (Allen and Anderson, 1994: 71).
The context in which one resides is indicative of this structure and without it human-consumer agency would alone fail to produce consumption practices that could be achieved if both structure and agency were in sync. For example, even if an individual possesses a type of consumer agency that would encourage green consumption practices, without the necessary opportunities available in the form of alternative consumption pathways e.g. sustainable supermarkets, organic food cooperatives and communities, the individual would not be able to conduct themselves in the manner of green consumption, and vice-versa. Both variables are reliant upon the other’s presence; ‘the wider adoption of green lifestyles depends on the extension of the green architecture on which the green performances of environmental activists currently depend’ (Horton 2013: 75). If human-consumer
agency and structure are present in the relationship, then this would encourage green consumptions practices that successfully reaffirm social differences and root an individual’s cultural identity in society.
Horton used the term distinctive lifestyle (2003: 63) to describe the performance of daily choices, which are fostered through the human-consumer agency and structure power nexus and are distant from social norms. In the case of this research, distinctive lifestyles are lived by those who choose alternative pathways of green consumption. This lifestyle, although being distinctive, is still formed around those who have shared green consumption tastes garnered from their socio-cultural background, albeit in a smaller community. ‘Those with approximately equivalent levels of cultural and economic capital share a habitus, which is productive of values, tastes and practices cohering into a distinctive lifestyle’ (Bourdieu, 1984: 260).
2.2.2 Consumption practices and behaviour
As evidenced, alternative consumption practices are being increasingly brought to the fore, yet they are continually denied any significant status in the delineation of the system of provision due to the extent and diversity of which multiple commodities are incorporated and reconstructed through these consumption practices. Instead, activities involved in the production, processing, distribution and retailing of food, in combination with socioeconomic variables, are treated as determinants of consumption practices, despite the lack of evidence of any causal relationship between these activities or variables and food consumption practices (Lockie and Kitto, 2000:5). Consumption, as a practice, is a combination of a ‘practical activity and its representation’, and its performance, which ‘requires regular enactment’ (Warde 2005:134).
Consumption practices can be thought of as an identity project in the on-going construction of lifestyles (Dobers and Strannegard, 2005:329 in Soron, 2010 p.173), however they must be thought of not only as a performance of identity but also of desired identity; essentially who one wants to be. Consumption, being socially constrained and embedded within routine and normative practices of everyday behaviour (Young et al., 2009 in Soron, 2010: 176), can be used as a crucial tool of mediation between everyday actions and perceived personal identity. Despite this, one must proceed to examine this relationship with caution, as for example; a consumer who proclaims to uphold a high level of environmental concern may not always evidence this in their everyday behavioural practices and vice-versa.
2.2.3 Consumption in urban sustainability transitions
The question of food consumption, and its related issues, acquires particular relevance if considered within the city context. Food, particularly in its production process, is traditionally associated with rural landscapes. As cities house the majority of the world’s population, they represent sites where knowledge is spread at a rapid pace of transition, such as the movement towards sustainable food consumption and its alternative pathways. Owing to their high rates of population density, urban areas allow for collective ideas to emerge at a faster rate than in rural regions. Individuals and groups who share the same distinct feelings towards sustainable food consumption have a greater chance of coming into contact and forming sustainable collectives that develop or merge a shared set of sustainable beliefs.
Collective groups of consumers who conduct their consumption activities in a way that has less impact upon the natural environment obtain the power to shape patterns of and transition to sustainability. The attempt to undertake more sustainable food consumption practices is a determinant variable in shaping more sustainable trajectories especially within the urban food supply system. (Verain et al., 2015). In the context of the city though, one must bear in mind that there is a vast pluralism among possibilities through which consumers can choose. Cities count on a diversified yet standardized food system of provision (Mansvelt, 2005). Food is conventionally available in supermarkets, which are increasingly offering consumers ‘more sustainable’ alternatives. Consequently, a critical review of what consumer choices and practices toward food consumption are and what they are influenced by is pivotal to attain an effective understanding of their level of sustainability.
In the western world, civil society, along with governmental and non-governmental support, is promoting unconventional foodways and projects that aim to create alternative food production, distribution and consumption networks. Virtuous examples are ‘self-provisioning activities including people growing, preserving and preparing their own food, often in collaboration with others working in community gardens and kitchens’ (Koc, 1999:33). Through practice, civil society groups attempt to bring about sustainability transitions, which rather than challenging regimes or generating new niches, try to intervene in the dynamics of, in the case of this research, consumption (Hargreaves et al., 2011:9)
2.3 Core concepts
A number of key concepts emerged throughout the literature review that will be analysed within the context of this thesis in order to form the basis of data collection and its analysis to answer the research question:
Alternative pathways: Every choice of shopping location that does not entail the direct purchase of food and other goods in a conventional supermarket, in other words, any deviance from the traditional social norms of food consumption by consumers.
Consumer identity: The socio-cultural background of the consumers themselves that contributes towards a way of thinking about ones consumption practices, which thus forms consumer identity. In a sense, consumer identity justifies and roots pathways of consumption practices within society.
Consumption practices and behaviour: Practices and behaviours encompass an array of actions undertaken by consumers when purchasing food. Behaviour is the set of values, norms, needs, attitudes and choices that drive consumers practices of consumption. Practices refer to what consumers buy and what products they select. Additionally, practices are also understood as those strategies that consumers develop in order to make their purchasing and consumption choices more sustainable.
Sustainability transition: A shift in practices and behaviour of individuals and communities towards more sustainable way of living, which grows to directly influence the local environment of which these more sustainable practices and behaviours take place in.
Urban environment: These sustainability transitions tend to take place in the urban environment where the dissemination of shared ideas and practices these densely populated location, such as a movement towards a more sustainable way of consuming, can rapidly develop. In turn, the urban environment in its structure can also influence the extent of sustainability transitions.
Chapter III Methodology
This research thesis analyses organic food consumption as a determinative aspect of the urban sustainability transition. In using a deductive approach comprising of qualitative semi-structured interviews and observations, the green consumption practices of consumers in relation to their organic food purchases will be examined and evaluated.
The literature review has highlighted that sustainability is a word of multiple meanings and thus it can be measured in its numerous separate social, economical and environmental spheres. Similarly, individual consumption practices can be understood as multidimensional and dependent on local context as they are characterised and determined by personal beliefs, values, habits, social structures and networks in which consumers are a member of.
The city of Amsterdam was chosen as the local setting of this investigation with the consumption practices of two different groups of consumers being critically examined. Although this work does not claim to be wholly representative nor exhaustive, the meticulous review of the core concepts and the in-depth understanding of food consumption practices provide a robust theoretical framework. In turn, this framework informs the fieldwork, data collection and analysis in order to answer the research question and the related sub-questions, whilst addressing areas for further studies of food consumption and sustainability, and possible policy implications.
This chapter commences with an overview of the research design (section 3.1), continuing with a presentation of the method (section 3.2), a comprehensive introduction of the two units of analysis (section 3.3), a description and explanation of the data collection process (section 3.4), an alliteration of any limitations that have hindered the research process (section 3.5). Finally, the impending section will conclude with a reference to the relevant ethical considerations that were made during the data collection (section 3.6).
3.1 Research Design
The research has adopted a form of comparative design that is believed to be particularly suitable in order to answer the research question that is at the core of this thesis.
According to Bryman (2012: 72), a comparative design is notably effective when the researcher aims to better identify commonalities and describe antithetic aspects of distinctive groups (of consumers); this research design is appropriately and accurately selected when the purpose of the study is ‘to seek explanation for similarities and differences or to gain a greater awareness and a deeper understanding of social reality in different (…) contexts’ (Hantrais, 1996 cited in Bryman, 2012).
Specifically, given the comparative nature of the object of analysis, this study requires the use of a multiple case studies. In contemporary times, multiple case studies have largely been employed in social sciences in order to conduct qualitative investigations. According to Bryman (2012: 74), a comparative design with multiple cases ‘improves theory building’ and allows the researcher to collect and analyse various perspectives concerning the topic of the study.
For the purpose of this research, two unique case studies have been selected which are representative of two different groups of organic food consumers. These consumers acquire organic food through the alternative pathways of ‘Vokomokum’ and ‘Marqt’, which represent two different means of purchasing. The former being an organic food cooperative whilst the latter is a representation of a sustainable supermarket that specialises in selling ‘real food’, as it states in its website2. Although the literature review (chapter II) did not mention a food cooperative as one of the
organic food consumption alternatives, Vokomokum is understood to be one of those given the characteristic of its nature and internal structure. Moreover, it appears to be a unique unit of analysis as it is a collective group of purchasing; the first of its kind to emerge in Amsterdam.
Marqt was selected because it satisfies the requirements of being a traditional commercial method of purchase. Nevertheless, Marqt does not specialise in organic food but it offers a selection of both organic and conventional food. The reason why this store has been selected as a unit of analysis is that it affirms to sell high-quality, sustainable food with direct relations to producers, as such it denotes a path of purchasing that is different from a regular supermarket; Contrary to Vokomokum, Marqt consumers are not organised in a collective group of purchase, but rather they shop as individuals.
2 http://www.marqt.com/echt-eten/ (last access: 02/08/2015). The original website in Dutch so author provided am
3.1.1 Research Context: The City of Amsterdam
Amsterdam appears to be an interesting site for this present case study on food consumption. At an international level, The Netherlands, which Amsterdam is the central business hub of, occupies an active position concerning food and sustainability issues. Counting on some major and notable institutions such as the national Research and Development centre and the Wageningen University, the Dutch nation is internationally known for its ‘authoritative knowledge (…) in the field of food and living environment3. The Netherlands is also in the top three when it comes to global food export
and basic food material supply. However, despite its active presence in sustainability issues, the nation’s ecological footprint is still substantial:
These interdependent factors mean that the Netherlands can make an important international contribution to sustainability and to reducing its own ecological impact, the “foodprint” (food consumption footprint). While the Dutch ‘foodprint’ might be slight in absolute terms, it is certainly not small in terms of per capita consumption. [Policy Document of Sustainable Food – June 2008)
A Government’s commitment to sustainability cannot be measured only by its external position; it maintains a crucial need of internal regulation too. As such, Dutch government compliance with the duty to ‘spread the knowledge of sustainable food production and consumption’ among its citizens and encourage both the private and the public sector to adopt more transparent and valuable alternatives.
3.2 Unit of analysis: case studies selection
The core of this research is to develop an understanding of organic food consumption practices by taking as reference two different groups of organic food consumers. The fact that non-conventional food has become a consistent primer selection within consumers in the recent decades is a topic that has been broadly studied by scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds; this is critically reviewed in the second chapter of the present study.
The main purpose of this research is however to detail an in-depth understanding of what elements and variables form the basis for this turn in food consumption; hence, in an attempt to ascertain the degree of sustainability of people consumption’s practices towards organic food, a selection of two different case studies has been made.
3 Policy Document of Sustainable Food – June 2008. Source:
3.2.1 Vokomokum: the collective consumers
The following description hinges on the information provided by Vokomokum, the Amsterdam-based food cooperative, through its Internet page and also derives from the revision of some informative documents provided by the co-op itself4. As is stated on its website, Vokomokum
‘is a growing collective of diverse people who want to obtain their food in a fair and social way’5. One
important point Vokomokum stresses is concerned with the type and quality of the food that is available to its members, quoting from its website: ‘good quality food, vegetarian and almost wholesale prices’6. Vokomokum has been created in the image of maintaining the characteristics of
workers’ food cooperatives, which are very popular in the Unites States of America, albeit under different conditions. Contrary to American food co-ops, Vokomokum is not like an ordinary store; it does not open regularly, nor has traditional opening hours. The location of the cooperative is Plantagedok, a historical and present squatter building in Amsterdam East, is a ‘breeding ground for art, craft, and social activities and major public (rentable) space for exhibitions, theatre and rehearsals’7. Those members who join Vokomokum place their order online during a given period of
time and only thereafter go to Plantagedok on the last Friday of every month to collect and pick up their orders between 18:00 and 20:00. As specified on its web page: http://www.vokomokum.nl/, the day of collection is not only meant to be the food pick-up-day, but also an occasion for members to get-to-know each other and enjoy the pleasure to feel part of and form a community.
Another distinctive aspect concerns the kind of consumers that the food cooperative wishes to encompass. Vokomokum does not just accept everyone’s order; far from wishing to be exclusive, it only allows its members to make purchases. Every person is required to become a member of the food co-op in order to start purchasing food and thus be an active participant in the Vokomokum community. Membership can be attained only after having attended the orientation meeting that takes place on the last Friday of every month in the same location where the pick up is. Membership has a minimum non-refundable fee: individual member must pay a ten euro fee whilst household membership costs fifteen euros. Along with the payment of the membership fee, everyone has to additionally commit to a five euro deposit, which will eventually be accredited when purchasing the first order.
4 Before the data collection phase, author decided to become a member of the cooperative in order to gain more (detailed)
information. As such, she attended the orientation day on February 27th 2015. After having finalised her membership,
author was provided by some relevant documents, explanatory of the cooperative internal functioning and membership obligations.
5http://www.vokomokum.nl/over-ons/ (last access: 29/07/2015) 6 http://www.vokomokum.nl/over-ons/ (last access: 29/07/2015)
7
Once every prospective member attends the orientation meeting, they then granted the opportunity to send a confirmation email confirming their induction to the organisers of Vokomokum8. Subsequently, the request will be processed, and he or she will receive a membership
number, through which, a password is required to be created in order to be able to enter the order page. An apposite section inside the website helps novices first tentative clicks; nonetheless the ordering process appears a simplified task. In providing relevant credentials, an individual can enter onto the order page and select what products they wish to buy, which are sorted by category according to food group. There is a limited amount of time during which the ordering form must be placed and finalised; usually a period of two weeks. Vokomokum members are encouraged to ‘bare in mind’ that most of the food products they can order come in bulks; this means that there has to be a minimum number of stock quantity selected for the order to go through9. This means that when the
minimum ordering threshold of a product is not attained then one might not be able to purchase everything he or she wanted to. This disadvantageous possibility may be compensated for by numerically increasing ones personal order to meet the required minimum threshold for an item.
As stated above, the order collection date falls on the last Friday of every month. Due to a significant lack of available storage space at the Plantagedok site, no order should be left surplus or forgotten and members ‘are expected to collect their orders in the evening or arrange someone else to collect them’, according to the Vokomokum website. An invoice is sent to every member after the pick up, which includes the total fee required to be paid via internet banking for the previous order. Any significant delay in payment will generate technical and logistical problems relating to the organisational structure of the following monthly order.
Every member, once having finalised their membership, is required to volunteer in the cooperative every other month. In volunteering, a member is given responsibility of a small task or function related to the collection, these shifts take place on the same day as pick-up. When submitting the membership request everyone is also asked to select at least one preference amid the eleven different working groups10. Each working shift aims to equally divide the workload among members
in order to ensure the good functioning of the co-op. The diverse range of working groups alternatives allows everyone to find their personal niche of preference within the cooperative.
8 The person in charge is usually a member doing the working shift in the Membership Group. The working shift
distinction will be clarified further in this same section.
9 Example: a bulk of apricot jam contains twelve jars of jam so there has to be 12 members ordering apricot jam to fulfil
the order.
10 Author acquired the following information after having consulted the Work Group file provided by the Vokomokum
Specifically, some of the working groups are oriented to more technical and logistical functions while some others are directly manage member communication and activities11.
3.2.2 Marqt: the individual consumers
As was the case in the previous section with Vokomokum, Marqt, the unit of analysis in this case, is described by reporting the information that can be found on the web page of the store and also on additional other websites or advertisements on the Internet. As such, Marqt is a sustainable supermarket12 ‘where it all comes together. Other ideas about what we eat. Respect for nature, animals
and people. Products made with passion and responsibility and where a fair price is paid. Food that stays close to its roots. Real food.’13.
Before proceeding with the detailed description of this unit of analysis it is worth bearing in mind that the case of Marqt in the city of Amsterdam is not a single reality, solely trying to provide consumers with more sustainable food. Organic supermarkets and specialised stores are increasingly ‘popping up’ throughout the Western urban world. A noticeable analogous specialised store that shares similar concept and structure of Marqt is WholeFood, which is an American grocery chain. It was founded in Austin, Texas, when the first small shop opened in 1980. By that time, WholeFood Market was able to merge with and acquire sixteen other companies, which thus allowed its international expansion in Canada and the United Kingdom14. Notably, Marqt’s development is
aligned with this trend as will be outlined.
The story of this Dutch business began in Amsterdam six years ago. Quirijn Bolle, who was previously an employee at Albert Heijn, founded Marqt in 2008. He decided to ‘launch this food concept without a focus on quick profit’15 by creating a sustainable store that is able to provide its
customers with unique real, local and seasonal food. As is reported online, at Marqt, consumers are less likely to find available fruit and vegetables that were produced in South America, thus reducing food mileage and the supply chain so that it can be less harmful to the environment, or fish being
11 The formers are groups such as ‘Finance Group’ (which e.g. manage individuals payments by sending out invoices after
the pick up day, make payments to the producers and write financial reports) or ‘Processing Group’ (which e.g. receive the containers from the producers, set up the shifts, check the members’ orders) or ‘Fresh Group’ (which e.g. administrate the monthly fresh orders in accordance to the suppliers/farmers, research and investigate new suppliers). The latters are groups such as ‘Café Group’ (which is in charge to make the pick up day a nice occasion for members to enjoy the cooperative, by preparing meals and serve and the bar) or ‘Communication Group’ (which organise the website, inform every members with news related to the co-op, be active in the social networks and respond to external requests).
12http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/over-knollen-en-citroenen~a4099669/ (last access: 02/08/2015) 13 See footnote number 1.
14http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company-info (last access: 02/08/2015).
farmed far-beyond the Dutch coastline. Sustainability, according to Bolle and his company, is ensured from the onset of food production by looking for local suppliers who are committed to environmental, animal, and worker respect. Marqt makes clear what it stands for: real food, which Marqt is bringing onto consumer tables with passion, responsibility and attention.
Knowing personally and working in cooperation with food producers is the first promise Marqt makes to its clients; a promise that ostensibly or not, is sometimes more important than to make a profit on the certification labels, as stated on their website. These requirements must be adhered to if individuals and institutions wish to do business with Marqt: from growers to farmers, holders to costumers, the first rule to follow is to be mutually helpful. Even the clients of the store are welcome to share their knowledge about new food producers, suggestions and ideas in order to improve the store’s quality and accountability.
The original Marqt store in Amsterdam was inaugurated seven years ago; soon after, another five stores opened in different locations across the city. The idea behind the business was to bring about Dutch local farmers under the same roof, loosely creating an indoor marketplace. Marqt has become a supermarket to cater for all intends and purposes.
3.3 Method
The following section illustrates the methods employed for the data collection. Given the nature of the scope and the design this research upholds, this author preferred the adoption of a qualitative method of investigation. This was justified by Bryman (2012), who concluded that qualitative methods are more suitable if the choice is that of a case study.
In order to evaluate alternative consumption practices and to understand how they are influenced and how they contribute to shape a sustainable urban food system, this research utilised semi-structured interviews as the principal method of data collection. Semi structured interviews were orally conducted with both Vokomokum and Marqt consumers. Every interview has also been recorded in order to allow for future transcription. Specifically, semi structured interviews are ‘conversation with purpose’ (Kahn and Cannell, 1957), whereby flexibility facilitates the responder’s own narratives. The author drafted a list of questions to pose, and prepared a narrowed-down set of topics to discuss with the interviewees; this interview structure is believed to be responsive to people spontaneity, yet ensuring some structure to allow for cross-sectional comparison (Bryman, 2012: 472).
3.4 Data collection
Data collection was conducted throughout a period of two summer months in May and June 2015. The recruitment of participants was carried out in two distinctive ways according to which consumer pathway they had chosen:
Firstly, original contact was made with Vokomokum’s prospective participants during a Friday cooperative collection day. The author presented herself and, after making clear the purpose of her visit, personally asked for individual participation in the research project. In total, twenty individuals expressed their willingness to collaborate, subsequently, each of these prospective participants were contacted through emails or phone calls with the intention to set up a meeting according to their individual preferences, the individuals in question selecting both time and place of the interview. Overall, interviews were conducted with ten participants who were all Vokomokum members, these interviews lasted an average duration of one hour.
Secondly, in the case of Marqt’s individual consumers, the author foresaw the possibility of facing difficulties in approaching store’s consumers because contact would have to be at or around the shopping location itself, as it had to be ensured that these individuals were shopping at Marqt. In the origins of the research process, an attempt was made to approach consumers inside the store, but this proved partially unsuccessful as only two individuals responded. Consequently, a second attempt was made that employed a different means of data collection, this time, the researcher waited for consumers to exit Marqt before engaging with them and asking for a meeting to conduct an interview, however this strategy was not successful either. A third endeavour opted for an immediate conduction of the interview within the local area. In doing this, the author established a first communication with Marqt participants outside the store with interviews then being administered right outside the store or in a café or bar in the local area. Due to the sometimes urgent implementation of this process, it was not always possible to pose all questions or to review every important key concept at the core of this study, there is a chance therefore that this could have subsequently undermined the validity of the research.
3.4.1 Overview of participant in the analysis
Below, Table 1 presents the main socio-demographical characteristics of the participants who took part in the process of research during the phase of data collection. The first section of the table (Participant 1-10) displays the collective organic food consumers who belong to the Vokomokum
food cooperative; the second part (Participant 11-20) represents the second group of individual consumers who shop at Marqt.
Gender Age Nationality Occupation
Household composition Vokomokum
Participant 1 Male 29 Bulgarian Political Science Student Single Person Participant 2 Male 32 Dutch Employee in a Community Company Two Adults with a Child Participant 3 Female 21 Dutch Sociology Student Single Person Participant 4 Female 25 Dutch Environmental Science Student Two Adults
Participant 5 Female 25 Dutch Human Geography and
Anthropology Student Single Person Participant 6 Female over 50 - under 60 American Freelance Artist Single Person
Participant 7 Male 38 Cypriot Photographer Single Person
Participant 8 Female 33 Dutch Employee at Marqt Single Person Participant 9 Female 53 American Part-time Fund Raiser Two Adults with Children
Participant 10 Male 36 Italian Architect Two Adults
Marqt
Participant 11 Female 25 Dutch Shop Assistant/Model Single Person Participant 12 Female 19 Dutch Medical Physics Student Single Person
Participant 13 Female 43 Dutch Housewife Two Adults
Participant 14 Male 29 Dutch Employee at Marqt Two Adults
Participant 15 Female 40 Dutch Sabbatical Year Two Adults with Children
Participant 16 Female 55 Dutch Housewife Two Adults
Participant 17 Male 27 Italian Professional Dancer Single Person Participant 18 Female 27 American Research Master Student Single Person Participant 19 Female 45 Argentinian Osteopath Two Adults with Children Participant 20 Male 28 Dutch Account Manager Two Adults with Children Table 1. Participants in the survey.
3.5 Limitations
Perhaps most pertinently, this research was limited by time constraints that affected the data collection by restricting both the number of interviews and their duration. This condition undermined the reliability and the completeness of the data collected that otherwise would have counted on a more in-depth and solid structure, thus allowing a better explanation of consumption practices of organic food consumers. Time constrained also the option of conducting a second research method.
Although semi-structured interviews were a suitable method for the purpose of this
investigation, the author believes that a second method, that being one of observation, would have helped to improve the breadth and depth of the results. Direct observation of the two locations (Vokomokum and Marqt), the way the two sites look, how food is organised within the shelves, how people related to the products they buy, could have allowed for further collection of complementary information along the ones provided by the interviewees. In addition to time, language barriers prevented the author from consulting and utilising secondary data written in Dutch, which would have been useful to gain a comprehensive understanding to the local context of research.
Additionally, the final results of this research are limited because of context dependency. It has to be clarified that the validity of the following data, and analysis, is legitimate if contextualised within the city of Amsterdam. Although the findings of this research can aid understanding and inform theory, generalisations should be aired with caution as this study was conducted within the contextual parameters of Amsterdam
It also must be realised that sample recruitments happened under different time and space conditions. Vokomokum members were given the chance and the opportunity to have a second encounter with the interviewer, removed from the location of recruitment. Conversely, more than two thirds of Marqt consumers were interviewed with little or no notice; this may have compromised the quality of their responses.
Finally, previous knowledge and opinion concerning alternative food networks and issues by the author may have created interview bias in questioning and analysis. However, despite this acquaintance with the subject matter, the author tried to always maintain a neutral mind-set without letting any personal thoughts or own opinions influence either the data collection or the its analysis.
3.6 Ethics
Throughout the research process, this author took into consideration the following ethical aspects, so as to ensure the validity of data collection and act in a fair and impartial manner. As participation of human agency in any social inquiry requires equality, interviewees were well informed about the author’s purpose of investigation at the moment of the first contact. Participants were also assured anonymity during the data transcription and results process, so as to protect their individual privacy and encourage individuals not to be afraid of voicing their deep opinions. When possible, participants were asked to choose the location of the interview in order to make them feel more comfortable and ease communication with the researcher.
Another important ethical acknowledgment concerns directly to Vokomokum and Marqt, the two designated units of analysis. Although it is unlikely to happen and it is neither in author’s wishes nor intentions, there is always a chance that findings of the research may negatively impact Vokomokum and/or Marqt, however this was deemed an unavoidable possible consequence of research that is particularly hard to evade when dealing with subjective matter in semi-structured interviews.
