Socio-spatial relations of care in community food project patronage

Abstract

In light of greater attention to the ethical dimensions of consumption and consumer behaviour in recent years, researchers are increasingly excavating the ethical bases of consumer engagement in various food procurement channels. Only a fairly narrow range of usual suspects has been the subject of study, however, including conventional grocery stores and community supported agriculture. This article considers the same question about community food projects; specifically, it explores the nature of customers’ involvement in, and perceived benefits from, a Good Food Box (GFB) programme in south-eastern Ontario, Canada. Using qualitative evidence from mail-in surveys and interviews, the paper draws from Foucault’s later work to consider the construction and maintenance of particular socio-spatial relations of care for both self and proximate others through food provisioning. As a predominantly self-caring act, GFB participation is motivated by frugality and physical health. When participants care for others through their patronage, prominent themes include helping less economically fortunate others, local farmers and family. The paper concludes by emphasizing the pervasiveness of care in consumerist activity and with outstanding questions about caring at a distance and the politics of educating consumer-subjects for ethical consciousness-raising.

Résumé

Au vu de l’attention particulière portée aux dimensions éthiques de la consommation et du comportement des consommateurs ces dernières années, les chercheurs ne cessent de fouiller les fondements éthiques de l’engagement des consommateurs dans divers réseaux d’approvisionnement de nourriture. Il n’y a toutefois qu’un éventail limité de groupes habituels qui ait fait l’objet d’études, comprenant les magasins d’alimentation conventionnels et l’agriculture soutenue par les communautés. Cet article considère les mêmes questions concernant les projets alimentaires communautaires ; en particulier, il explore la nature de l’implication des clients dans un programme du nom de « la Boîte verte» (Good Food Box) au sud-est de l’Ontario au Canada et ses effets bénéfiques apparents. Utilisant des données qualitatives issues de sondages et d’entretiens par mail, cet article s’appuie sur les derniers travaux de Foucault pour examiner la construction et le maintien de certains rapports socio-spatiaux de protection à la fois de soi-même et des proches à travers l’approvisionnement alimentaire. En tant qu’acte principalement soucieux de la protection de soi-même, la participation à la Boîte verte est motivée par la frugalité et la santé physique. Quand les participants se soucient des autres à travers leur parrainage, les thèmes remarquables incluent l’aide aux moins privilégiés, aux agriculteurs locaux et à la famille. Cet article conclue en soulignant l’omniprésence de la protection dans l’activité consumériste et termine avec des questions non résolues sur la protection à distance et les politiques d’éducation du sujet-consommateur pour une sensibilisation éthique.

Resumen

A la luz de una mayor atención a las dimensiones éticas del consumo y el comportamiento del consumidor en los últimos años, los investigadores están cada vez más indagando las bases éticas de la participación de los consumidores en diversos canales de adquisición de alimentos. Sin embargo, sólo se ha estudiado una gama bastante estrecha de sospechosos usuales, los que incluyen comercios convencionales y la agricultura comunitaria. Este artículo considera la misma pregunta sobre los proyectos comunitarios de alimentos; específicamente, explora los beneficios percibidos y la naturaleza de la participación de los consumidores en el programa Good Food Box en el sureste de Ontario, Canadá. Utilizando evidencia cualitativa de encuestas y entrevistas por correo, el trabajo se basa en los últimos trabajos de Foucault para considerar la construcción y el mantenimiento de relaciones socio-espaciales particulares de cuidado tanto para el individuo como para los demás a través del aprovisionamiento de alimentos. Como un acto predominantemente de autocuidado, la participación en dicho programa está motivada por la frugalidad y la salud física. Cuando los participantes cuidan a otros a través de su patrocinio, los temas prominentes incluyen ayudar a otros económicamente menos afortunados, a los agricultores locales y a la familia. El trabajo concluye enfatizando la omnipresencia del cuidado en la actividad consumista y con cuestiones sobresalientes sobre el cuidado a distancia y la política de educar a los sujetos- consumidores para la concientización ética.

Keywords:

• Good Food Box
• care
• community food project
• socio-spatial relation

Mots clés:

• la Boîte verte
• protection
• projet alimentaire communautaire
• rapport socio-spatial

Palabras claves:

• good food box
• cuidado
• proyecto comunitario de alimentos
• relación socio-espacial

Acknowledgement

I extend my sincere thanks to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their dedication to seeing this paper reach the light of day. I also thank the leaders and volunteers with the Community Development Council of Quinte for offering their time and space to execute this study. Finally, I thank Alayna Annett and Leena Lamontagne-Dupuis for their research assistance.

Notes

1. The term ‘community food project’ is used deliberately to distinguish these initiatives from alternative food networks (AFNs), geographies and initiatives. Admittedly, the distinctions are subject to blurring when evaluated in light of frameworks such as Holloway et al.’s (2007) heuristic framework. For our purposes, however, their differentiation derives from typical Good Food Boxes’ reliance on conventionally grown food sourced from globalized, industrialized supply chains, which stands in opposition to the efforts of many – but not all – AFNs (Allen, FitzSimmons, Goodman, & Warner, 2003).

2. Good Food Boxes schemes in Canada include, but are not widely characterized by, priorities such as populating boxes exclusively with organic, locally procured and/or culturally appropriate produce according to environmental and social justice frameworks. Such box schemes – most notably that of Toronto’s FoodShare organization – have been abundantly profiled (e.g. Johnston & Baker, 2005; Scharf, 1999). For our purposes, a ‘typical case’ approach to case study selection (Seawright & Gerring, 2008) necessarily required the exclusion of these exceptional cases from consideration.

3. In accordance with the partner agency’s priority of avoiding any stigmatization of its patrons, no questions about employment or income were asked, and incidence of low income was ascertained through a general question about whether the respondent felt they were among the over three million Canadians living in poverty each year.

4. Informally, in-person interviewees exceeded this prevalence of low income and food insecurity without ever using those terms directly. Nearly all people mentioning money ‘being tight’, living on a fixed income, being ‘on disability’, or other euphemisms for living with low income.