Urban harvest: cities, food, activism and the third sector

Abstract

Food production in urban areas, despite its long history and predicted continued growth, has been neglected and devalued as a significant site for the resolution of problems of globalisation, urbanisation and environmental degradation. Globally and locally the failures of the industrial food system and our agricultural systems have prompted various calls for action. This paper will flag the significance of the relationship between cities, food production and activism - a new politics about food at the local level and a growing local food movement that is becoming significant in resisting the global discourses about food, building social capital and generating processes of reterritorialization. It will explore what is known about activism in urban food production and identify some of the issues that exist in these places of organisation.