The spaces in between: an actor network analysis of alternative food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean

For years, researchers and activists have claimed that alternative food systems are
required to increase the resilience of low-income families in the Global South and
overcome the negative effects of capitalist, agro-industry regimes. Urban and periurban agriculture and alternative forms of local food production and distribution
in urban settings are often seen as promising strategies. Yet very little is still known
about how local food initiatives emerge, are legitimized, and (sometimes) survive
in contexts of informality. Here we use Michel Callon’s conceptual tools to reveal
how alternative food networks are justified and operate in low-income settlements
where informal construction and economic activities abound. We conducted 340
interviews and 312 questionnaires and followed 18 bottom-up initiatives related
to food production, distribution, transformation and consumption in cities and
peri-urban spaces in Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, and Chile. Empirical results show
how, seeking to stabilize food systems, local leaders create design outcomes
and activities where social struggles, identities, and reified notions of time and
space are key. From a practical perspective, these results show the inadequacy
of regulations and policy to grasp the dynamic resistance occurring in the “in
between” spaces of both identities and urban structure. Changes in urban policy
and food programs are required to make sense of such complexity.