Middle Class, Tradition and the Desi-Realm—Discourses of Alternative Food Networks in Bengaluru, India

It has repeatedly been claimed that persistent traditional agriculture and marketing in countries of the Global South, such as India, are a fruitful basis for the foundation of alternative food networks (AFNs). However, literature on AFNs in the Global South is scarce and it thus remains uncertain h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 12; no. 7; p. 2741
Main Authors Erler, Mirka, Dittrich, Christoph
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.04.2020
Subjects
Agribusiness
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Community supported agriculture
Consumption
Direct marketing
Fair trade
Fertilizers
Food
Peasants
Pesticides
Social classes
Traditional farming
Working conditions
India
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:It has repeatedly been claimed that persistent traditional agriculture and marketing in countries of the Global South, such as India, are a fruitful basis for the foundation of alternative food networks (AFNs). However, literature on AFNs in the Global South is scarce and it thus remains uncertain how the appropriation of traditional agri-food practices plays out. We conducted semi-structured expert interviews with representatives of 14 AFNs in Bengaluru, India, in order to explore their aims and approaches. We found that there is a high variety of different AFNs in the city. One salient discourse among the representatives was that the agri-food system can be improved by a revitalization of tradition. In this paper, we discuss the implications of this conviction on representatives of AFNs. Traditionalism, we argue, does rather represent a deflection from achieving the stated goals of the AFN, namely the improvement of the livelihood of Indian farmers.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su12072741