Moving beyond the alternative: sustainable communities, rural resilience and the mainstreaming of local food

Abstract

Socially desirable outcomes such as community cohesion, diversity and social mixing are key features of the sustainable communities discourse. However, this aspect of the sustainable communities policy agenda remains under-researched. This paper uses the case of a community food initiative (Stroudco, located in Stroud, UK) to review some of the challenges faced in incorporating these social goals into wider (community led) sustainability initiatives. In particular, we explore the tensions that arise between the three core facets of sustainability – the social, the environmental and the economic – when they are brought together at a community level. Although Stroudco was established with the aim of bridging diverse communities and broadening the cross-section of people consuming local food, to date this remains a significant challenge. The case of Stroudco provides an insight into some of the difficulties encountered by local initiatives that attempt to operate across a range of social groupings while also overcoming cultural differences about the value of local food. It also raises important questions about the social geographies of resilience which community sustainability initiatives are able to support.

Keywords:

• Sustainable
• community
• local
• food
• resilience

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the core group of Stroudco. We are extremely grateful to them for the open access which they have provided. It is their willingness for us to become involved with the process, and to review and report on the “lows” as well as the “highs” of developing and delivering a local food initiative, which have made research possible. We would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers whose insightful comments have undoubtedly helped us to strengthen this paper. The financial support for the empirical work upon which this paper is based stem from a combination of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funding sources: the Centre's grant awarded the ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS), Cardiff University; and a fellowship which sits within the ESRC/ DEFRA Sustainable Practices Research Group, Manchester University. The paper is a development from a presentation held at the AAG (2010) in Washington, DC; and we wish to acknowledge the support of Alison Blay-Palmer in her work in organising the session on sustainable communities.

Notes

As part of a joint ESRC and Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC) funded project on skills, knowledge and learning for sustainable communities. The ASC has since become the skills and knowledge team within the Homes and Communities Agency.

In order to be able to register as a CIC, organisations have to prove to the regulator that they have a “community interest”. Once registered, their assets become locked to the company and cannot be disposed of without the permission of the regulator. For further information see: Community Interest Companies (2003).

Stroud Community Agriculture Ltd.

Transition Stroud.

The next stage of research is specifically focused on the residents of Parliament Estate, with focus groups being used to illicit their views on changes which could be made in order to make Stroudco more attractive to them.

Reflecting the evolutionary nature of this initiative, at the time of writing (January 2011), the 15 mile rule is currently under review by the core group.

The Stroud Farmers' Market is not limited to local producers based in the immediate vicinity of Stroud.