Paper short abstract:

The democratization of the food system calls for participation of people. Community-supported agriculture provides a way to become an active participant of the food system: a food citizen. Via participatory action research, we develop an understanding of food citizenship and its performative nature.

Paper long abstract:

Food democracy can be a way to secure the right of all people to sufficient, safe, and sustainable food and to redistribute the power within the food system. The democratization of the food system calls for active participation and the empowerment of citizens. Alternative food networks, such as community-supported agriculture (CSA), provide ways of producing and consuming food differently. They involve citizens in community decision-making and collective action in everyday food practices. CSA is a concrete way through which food democracy can be pursued and new norms regarding food consumption and production may be created.

Our conceptual framework builds on a performative conception of citizenship: Instead of status, citizenship is seen as becoming in action. This understanding of citizenship appreciates human–non-human entanglements, and moves beyond society-nature dualism as well as privileging of the human over the non-humans. Although much has been written on food democracy and food citizenship, the figure of food citizen is still vague. Especially the role of materiality and non-humans in constructing food citizenship requires more attention.

Via participatory action research with a small-scale CSA located in Central Finland, we develop the understanding of food citizenship: How food citizenship is produced in the CSA practices, and how materiality is affecting on becoming a food citizen and the norms related to food production and consumption? Our findings indicate that acknowledging materiality broadens the discussion from individual, market-based, and consumer-oriented approaches of participation towards norm-breaking, collective, and activist participation and the role of citizens in the food system.