The production of urban commons through alternative food practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper analyses creation of commons in the urban context from the perspective of alternative food networks. I explore how buying groups produce commons in the urban fabric through their decisions and practices relating to the distribution of organic food. Participatory action research and semi-structured interviews with members of buying groups (GSRs) in Croatia are used to examine the ways in which self-organised citizens manoeuvre through legal entanglements in order to obtain quality food directly from local producers. By collaborative acts of resistance based on solidarity and mutual support, buying groups transform and appropriate public and private spaces into urban commons, in which they regain control over the food they consume. Commoning practices have enabled buying groups (GSRs) to develop resilience and confront the dominant food regime.