IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v34y2017i2d10.1007_s10460-016-9717-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The spaces and times of community farming

Author

Listed:
  • Pingyang Liu

    (Fudan University)

  • Paul Gilchrist

    (University of Brighton)

  • Becky Taylor

    (Plumpton College)

  • Neil Ravenscroft

    (University of Brighton)

Abstract

This paper uses a multiple case study approach to researching people’s everyday lives and experiences of six community farms and gardens in diverse settings in China and England. We argue that collective understandings of community are bound up in everyday action in particular spaces and times. Successful community farms and gardens are those that are able to provide suitable spaces and times for these actions so that their members can enjoy multiple benefit streams. These benefits are largely universal: in very different situations in both England and China, CSA members make strong connections with the land, the farmers and other members, even in cases where they rarely visit the farms and gardens. This suggests that community farming and gardening initiatives possess multi-dimensional transformational potential. Not only do they offer a buffer against industrialised and remote food systems, but they also represent therapeutic landscapes valued by those who have experienced time spent at or in connection with them. Our findings indicate that—regardless of location or cultural context—these benefits are durable, so that people who have been engaged in multiple activities at a community farm or garden continue to enjoy these benefits long after most of their engagement has ceased.

Suggested Citation

  • Pingyang Liu & Paul Gilchrist & Becky Taylor & Neil Ravenscroft, 2017. "The spaces and times of community farming," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 363-375, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:34:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-016-9717-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-016-9717-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-016-9717-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-016-9717-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henk Renting & Terry K Marsden & Jo Banks, 2003. "Understanding Alternative Food Networks: Exploring the Role of Short Food Supply Chains in Rural Development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 35(3), pages 393-411, March.
    2. Mindi Schneider, 2015. "What, then, is a Chinese peasant? Nongmin discourses and agroindustrialization in contemporary China," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 331-346, June.
    3. Brian Obach & Kathleen Tobin, 2014. "Civic agriculture and community engagement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(2), pages 307-322, June.
    4. Michael Classens, 2015. "The nature of urban gardens: toward a political ecology of urban agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 229-239, June.
    5. Muhammad Chowdhury, 2015. "Coding, sorting and sifting of qualitative data analysis: debates and discussion," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 1135-1143, May.
    6. Zhenzhong Si & Theresa Schumilas & Steffanie Scott, 2015. "Characterizing alternative food networks in China," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 299-313, June.
    7. Phil Mount, 2012. "Growing local food: scale and local food systems governance," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(1), pages 107-121, March.
    8. Betty Wells & Shelly Gradwell, 2001. "Gender and resource management: Community supported agriculture as caring-practice," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 18(1), pages 107-119, March.
    9. Neil Ravenscroft & Niamh Moore & Ed Welch & Rachel Hanney, 2013. "Beyond agriculture: the counter-hegemony of community farming," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(4), pages 629-639, December.
    10. Antoinette Pole & Margaret Gray, 2013. "Farming alone? What’s up with the “C” in community supported agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(1), pages 85-100, March.
    11. David McIvor & James Hale, 2015. "Urban agriculture and the prospects for deep democracy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 727-741, December.
    12. Laura DeLind, 2011. "Are local food and the local food movement taking us where we want to go? Or are we hitching our wagons to the wrong stars?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(2), pages 273-283, June.
    13. Ryan E. Galt, 2013. "The Moral Economy Is a Double-edged Sword: Explaining Farmers’ Earnings and Self-exploitation in Community-Supported Agriculture," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 89(4), pages 341-365, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Čajka, Adam & Novotný, Josef, 2022. "Let us expand this Western project by admitting diversity and enhancing rigor: A systematic review of empirical research on alternative economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    2. Si Tan & Weiping Chen, 2019. "Can members’ WeChat engagement affect relational outcomes in community‐supported agriculture? Empirical evidence from China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(1), pages 36-52, January.
    3. Mirka Erler & Christoph Dittrich, 2020. "Middle Class, Tradition and the Desi-Realm—Discourses of Alternative Food Networks in Bengaluru, India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Antonella Samoggia & Chiara Perazzolo & Piroska Kocsis & Margherita Del Prete, 2019. "Community Supported Agriculture Farmers’ Perceptions of Management Benefits and Drawbacks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-21, June.
    5. Francesca Gori & Alessandra Castellini, 2023. "Alternative Food Networks and Short Food Supply Chains: A Systematic Literature Review Based on a Case Study Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.
    6. Shinichi Kitano, 2020. "Formation Factors and Effects on Common Property Resource Conservation of Community Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-19, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leslie Gray & Laureen Elgert & Antoinette WinklerPrins, 2020. "Theorizing urban agriculture: north–south convergence," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 869-883, September.
    2. William Lacy, 2023. "Local food systems, citizen and public science, empowered communities, and democracy: hopes deserving to live," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Emily H. Morgan & Michelle M. Severs & Karla L. Hanson & Jared McGuirt & Florence Becot & Weiwei Wang & Jane Kolodinsky & Marilyn Sitaker & Stephanie B. Jilcott Pitts & Alice Ammerman & Rebecca A. Seg, 2018. "Gaining and Maintaining a Competitive Edge: Evidence from CSA Members and Farmers on Local Food Marketing Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-21, June.
    4. Lydia Zepeda & Anna Reznickova, 2017. "Innovative millennial snails: the story of Slow Food University of Wisconsin," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 167-178, March.
    5. Sini Forssell & Leena Lankoski, 2017. "Navigating the tensions and agreements in alternative food and sustainability: a convention theoretical perspective on alternative food retail," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 513-527, September.
    6. Isabel Miralles & Domenico Dentoni & Stefano Pascucci, 2017. "Understanding the organization of sharing economy in agri-food systems: evidence from alternative food networks in Valencia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(4), pages 833-854, December.
    7. Joshua Sbicca & India Luxton & James Hale & Kassandra Roeser, 2019. "Collaborative Concession in Food Movement Networks: The Uneven Relations of Resource Mobilization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-21, May.
    8. Sarah Bowen & Tad Mutersbaugh, 2014. "Local or localized? Exploring the contributions of Franco-Mediterranean agrifood theory to alternative food research," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(2), pages 201-213, June.
    9. Leigh Martindale, 2021. "‘I will know it when I taste it’: trust, food materialities and social media in Chinese alternative food networks," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 365-380, June.
    10. Pierre Chiaverina & Sophie Drogué & Florence Jacquet & Larry Lev & Robert King, 2023. "Does short food supply chain participation improve farm economic performance? A meta‐analysis," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(3), pages 400-413, May.
    11. Cayla Albrecht & John Smithers, 2018. "Reconnecting through local food initiatives? Purpose, practice and conceptions of ‘value’," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 67-81, March.
    12. Yuna Chiffoleau & Sarah Millet-Amrani & Arielle Canard, 2016. "From Short Food Supply Chains to Sustainable Agriculture in Urban Food Systems: Food Democracy as a Vector of Transition," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-18, October.
    13. Naomi Beingessner & Amber J. Fletcher, 2020. "“Going local”: farmers’ perspectives on local food systems in rural Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(1), pages 129-145, March.
    14. Angela M. Chapman & Harold A. Perkins, 2020. "Malign and benign neglect: a local food system and the myth of sustainable redevelopment in Appalachia Ohio," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(1), pages 113-127, March.
    15. Lesli Hoey & Allison Sponseller, 2018. "“It’s hard to be strategic when your hair is on fire”: alternative food movement leaders’ motivation and capacity to act," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 595-609, September.
    16. Giovanna Sacchi & Leonardo Cei & Gianluca Stefani & Ginevra Virginia Lombardi & Benedetto Rocchi & Giovanni Belletti & Susanne Padel & Anna Sellars & Edneia Gagliardi & Giuseppe Nocella & Sarah Cardey, 2018. "A Multi-Actor Literature Review on Alternative and Sustainable Food Systems for the Promotion of Cereal Biodiversity," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-29, November.
    17. Claudio Vitari & Erin Whittingham, 2018. "Tackling Conventional Agriculture: The Institutionalization of Community Supported Agriculture's (CSA) Principles," Post-Print halshs-01923789, HAL.
    18. Mary Hendrickson, 2015. "Resilience in a concentrated and consolidated food system," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 5(3), pages 418-431, September.
    19. Katriina Soini & Eija Pouta & Terhi Latvala & Taina Lilja, 2019. "Agrobiodiversity Products in Alternative Food System: Case of Finnish Native Cattle Breeds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-15, June.
    20. Jana Spilková, 2017. "Producing space, cultivating community: the story of Prague´s new community gardens," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(4), pages 887-897, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:34:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-016-9717-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.