Paper short abstract:

To replace the dominant paradigms of how food is produced, consumed and valued, food movements have started to (re)imply the concept of food as a commons. This development changes how food policies are being shaped for and in cities while new practices of "food commoning" are evolving.

Paper long abstract:

Food has become thoroughly commodified throughout late modern societies, possibly limiting our imagination of how food production and consumption could be governed. However, new initiatives are proposing to rethink food along the lines of the commons concept.

According to Ostrom´s model of polycentric governance, treating food as a commons might lead not only to a different production and distribution but would also have an enormous impact on how civic actions, the private sector and the state interact and which kind of policies are going to be developed for and in cities.

The practice of commoning can therefore be seen as a way to replace dominant paradigms of how food is to be produced, sold, consumed and valued. "Commoners" are (re-) discovering how to interact with each other and to take responsibility in innovative ways in a transformation process towards more sustainable food systems. This is happening in many European cities today. My paper will present findings from ongoing fieldwork on food policies and food initiatives, comparing Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Vienna.

With the city of Amsterdam as my main example, I want to discuss how the food commons movement is aiming to change how food production and consumption are going to be governed in the future and to show new practices of "food commoning" that are currently evolving.