Category Archives: Food

Democracy in Agriculture and Food Provisioning: A Citizenship Lens

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Spring School-PhD course May 19-23, 2025

With daily seminars by Engin Isin and contributions by Cristina Grasseni, Robin Smith, Joost Jongerden, and Han Wiskerke

Fair and just agriculture and food systems have been central issues in policy and practice for much of the 20th and 21st centuries. Peasants, consumers, and social movements have been fighting for rights such as land ownership, access to healthy food, and the right to determine our agricultural and food futures for many decades, if not centuries. Few have conceptualized this in terms of citizenship. Yet by questioning what is fair, just, and right, challenging the working of our agrarian and food systems, and practising alternatives people establish themselves as citizens, and more specifically as agrarian and food citizens.

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Dreaming of the food system of the future

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Written by Lucie Sovová.

“The future” cannot be “predicted” because “the future” does not exist.
Any useful idea about the futures should appear to be ridiculous.

These two often quoted sentences from Jim Dator’s text on Future studies tickle scientists‘ brains. Science has useful tools to make predictions, usually extrapolating from the current state: if we continue on this path, this is likely to happen. When thinking about the current food system (and  many other issues), this approach quickly leads to a bleak picture: we are headed the wrong way and clearly need to change course. How exactly that should happen is a more difficult question – it is in fact much easier to identify which parts of the current setup are preventing change.

Future studies propose a different approach: rather than thinking about the scenarios that are the most likely extension of the present, let us think about a desirable future. Envisioning preferred futures – realistic or not – can help us think outside of the box of the current state. This, in turn, can set a clear direction of where we want to go, and open up creative ideas about how to get there.  Future studies are tied to a number of methodological approaches, such as participatory foresight, scenario development or visioning which can work with desirable, possible and probable outcomes. When paired up with strategic planning and policy development, these tools can in fact help envision and implement change. This way of working fits with the tradition of engaged research at the Rural Sociology Group, and different future-oriented methods have been used in the group’s past and current projects, such as TRANSMANGO or CULTIVATE.

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Internship: Governing food sharing in Utrecht

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We are looking for a research intern to conduct scientific research on food sharing and governance in the Municipality of Utrecht as part of the EU-funded project CULTIVATE. Knowledge of Dutch and experience with qualitative research methods and analysis are essential.

CULTIVATE uses a multi-actor approach to build sustainability and resilience in urban and peri-urban areas through a ground-breaking online social innovation support platform – The Food Sharing Compass. Built with and for five key stakeholder groups – food sharing initiatives, policy makers, food supply actors, researchers and citizens – the platform will make it possible to navigate diverse food sharing landscapes and cultures, in order to understand, develop, replicate, expand and strengthen sustainable food sharing in Europe. In essence, CULTIVATE will establish the EU as the global frontrunner in the development of resilient and inclusive food sharing economies, identifying drivers and implementation gaps and challenging existing theories and practices which currently constrain sustainable food sharing.

Internship description: The intern will be participating in research which aims to better understand the evolution of, and help transform, existing policies, regulatory regimes, governance structures and habits to strengthen local food sharing economies, promote sustainable food sharing and prevent and reduce food waste.

The intern will part of the Rural Sociology Group of Wageningen University but the work will be based mainly in Utrecht from September 2023 to January 2024 (4 months, full time).

For questions about the position, please contact Dr Lucie Sovova lucie.sovova@wur.nl

Generally, the intern will support the WUR Research team and other members of the CULTIVATE to collect, organize and analyse information and data to help achieve the scientific objectives of the project, develop effective task management and collaboratively work, publish and disseminate project findings.

We seek highly motivated candidates to:

  • work in an international, innovative and multistakeholder project,
  • develop qualitative research skills while working with different types of stakeholders,
  • communicate and amplify scientific, policy and innovation knowledge around food sharing in Utrecht.

Key responsibilities:

  • Follow research protocols to analyse the urban food sharing governance landscape in the city of Utrecht with special focus on food waste, social and solidarity economies, and urban agriculture with support from the research team.
  • Work closely with university researchers and the Municipality of Utrecht to identify leverage points and pathways for transformative change, using scenario and backcasting tools.
  • Support the organisation of project meetings.

Expertise/Competence/Skills:

  • Excellent Dutch and English language skills are a requirement
  • Capable of working independently and meeting deadlines
  • Proven capacity to synthetize and communicate complex ideas
  • Experience with qualitative research methods, especially interviewing is an asset
  • Experience with data collection and policy analysis is an asset
  • Experience with food sharing initiatives is an asset
  • Experience working in diverse teams is an asset

The diaries of a bus buddy: Fieldwork observations as immigrants navigate Spain’s agri-food industry

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Merissa Gavin, Master’s Student, International Development Studies at Wageningen University

My daily ‘commute‘
Beyond the methods and ethics of data collection, something we were taught in fieldwork preparation is that the field is full of surprises. Often you arrive to a reality much different to what your a priori desk research may lead you to expect. 

I came to Huelva expecting to observe and participate with Jornaleras de Huelva en Lucha (JHL), a self-organised feminist and anti-racist group of day labourers in the strawberry industry. My intention, in the best-case scenario, was to live and work alongside the fruit harvesters. Failing this, I was willing to accept visiting where the workers lived, hanging out with them after work and joining unionist action organised by JHL. However, due to the delicacy of immigrant workers’ statuses and the protectionist front of employers, this avenue proved unviable. Employers commonly provide accommodation on site and they are reluctant to facilitate external interactions. In place of JHL, the entry point for my research has been Asociación Nueva Ciudadanía por la Interculturalidad (ASNUCI). ASUNCI is an association that offers its members hostel beds, internet connection and hygiene services, all of which are in high demand amongst workers not housed by their employers, but instead living in roadside settlements without electricity or water.

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