Working Together to Build Cooperative Food Systems

A special issue of the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD), on Cooperatives and Alternative Food Systems Initiatives, has just been edited by CAWR's Colin Anderson and will be freely available during July.

A recent emphasis on cooperation and innovative forms of collective action within the food movement invokes a community-centered approach to food provisioning where collective problem solving and democracy take centre place in the development agenda. Cooperative alternative food networks are becoming powerful tools for community development and important vehicles for cultivating democratically controlled food systems at multiple scales. 

The articles in this special issue provide an important contribution to our understanding of the function, the challenges and the potential of cooperativism and collective action in enabling more just and resilient food systems. (from editorial introduction).

Anderson, C.R., Brushett, L., Renting, H. and T. Gray (2014) Working Together to Build Cooperative Food Systems. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development4(3).