IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v41y2024i2d10.1007_s10460-023-10513-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How do the people that feed Europe feed themselves? Exploring the (in)formal food practices of Almería’s migrant and seasonal food workers

Author

Listed:
  • María Alonso Martínez

    (Local Governments for Sustainability e.V.)

  • Anke Brons

    (Wageningen University)

  • Sigrid C. O. Wertheim-Heck

    (Wageningen University)

Abstract

The EU's Farm to Fork strategy (European Commission European Commission. 2020. Farm to Fork strategy. https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en . Accessed 31 August 2023.) highlights the need for a resilient food system capable of providing affordable food to citizens in all circumstances. Behind the provision of affordable food for EU citizens there is the effort of many migrant and seasonal food workers (MSFWs). In Almería, Spain, the area with the biggest concentration of greenhouses in the world, MSFWs face vulnerability in the form of physical and institutional invisibility despite performing the essential task of providing affordable food for the EU’s food system. This paper aims to move on from structuralist concerns and place MSFWs’ lived experiences at the center, including the (in)formal nature of their food practices, to understand how the people that feed Europe feed themselves. A combination of social practice theories and diverse economies is used to explore MFSWs’ daily food routines. These theories are used as lenses that inform the data collection process, performed through semi-structured interviews, photography, and observations. The findings of the study reflect a dynamic portfolio of (in)formal practices that evolve based on the length of stay in the county. These practices demonstrate how the EU food system resilience relies on the diverse economies of migrant settlements. We conclude that informality is a reality in the EU food system, and that shedding light on previously hidden food practices and their structures can help us envision food security interventions that are inclusive for all actors involved.

Suggested Citation

  • María Alonso Martínez & Anke Brons & Sigrid C. O. Wertheim-Heck, 2024. "How do the people that feed Europe feed themselves? Exploring the (in)formal food practices of Almería’s migrant and seasonal food workers," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(2), pages 731-748, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:41:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-023-10513-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-023-10513-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-023-10513-8
    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/s10460-023-10513-8?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. Anke Brons & Peter Oosterveer, 2017. "Making Sense of Sustainability: A Practice Theories Approach to Buying Food," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Margot Dyen & Lucie Sirieix & Sandrine Costa & Laurence Depezay & Eloïse Castagna, 2018. "Exploring the dynamics of food routines: a practice-based study to understand households’ daily life," Post-Print hal-01909146, HAL.
    3. Charles Z. Levkoe, 2021. "Scholars as allies in the struggle for food systems transformation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 611-614, September.
    4. Anke Brons & Peter Oosterveer & Sigrid Wertheim-Heck, 2020. "Feeding the melting pot: inclusive strategies for the multi-ethnic city," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1027-1040, December.
    5. Sibylle Bui & Ionara Costa & Olivier De Schutter & Tom Dedeurwaerdere & Marek Hudon & Marlene Feyereisen, 2019. "Systemic ethics and inclusive governance: two key prerequisites for sustainability transitions of agri-food systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(2), pages 277-288, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Sara A. L. Smaal & Joost Dessein & Barend J. Wind & Elke Rogge, 2021. "Social justice-oriented narratives in European urban food strategies: Bringing forward redistribution, recognition and representation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 709-727, September.
    2. Letizia Bindi & Angelo Belliggiano, 2023. "A Highly Condensed Social Fact: Food Citizenship, Individual Responsibility, and Social Commitment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-22, April.
    3. Magnus Boström & Erik Andersson & Monika Berg & Karin Gustafsson & Eva Gustavsson & Erik Hysing & Rolf Lidskog & Erik Löfmarck & Maria Ojala & Jan Olsson & Benedict E. Singleton & Sebastian Svenberg &, 2018. "Conditions for Transformative Learning for Sustainable Development: A Theoretical Review and Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, November.
    4. Annemarieke Bruin & Imke J.M. Boer & Niels R. Faber & Gjalt Jong & Katrien J.A.M. Termeer & Evelien M. Olde, 2024. "Easier said than defined? Conceptualising justice in food system transitions," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(1), pages 345-362, March.
    5. Nic J. Lees & Sivashankar Sivakumar & Xiaomeng Lucock, 2024. "Agrifood Sustainability Transitions in Firms and Industry: A Bibliographic Analysis of Research Themes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-27, August.
    6. Vivica I. Kraak & Kim L. Niewolny, 2024. "A Scoping Review of Food Systems Governance Frameworks and Models to Develop a Typology for Social Change Movements to Transform Food Systems for People and Planetary Health," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Jernej Prišenk & Jernej Turk & Karmen Pažek & Črtomir Rozman & Andreja Borec & Nejc Zidar, 2024. "An Assessment of Food Value Chains to Identify Gaps and Make Recommendations for Further Development: A Slovenian Case Study," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-35, March.
    8. Machuca Henao, José Yeisson & Ávila Guerrero, Flor Marlen, 2022. "Sistemas de garantía participativos como estrategias de desarrollo para productores rurales," Revista Tendencias, Universidad de Narino, vol. 23(2), pages 246-272, July.
    9. Paweł Bryła, 2019. "Regional Ethnocentrism on the Food Market as a Pattern of Sustainable Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-19, November.
    10. Catherine Littlefield & Molly Stollmeyer & Peter Andrée & Patricia Ballamingie & Charles Z. Levkoe, 2024. "Exploring settler-Indigenous engagement in food systems governance," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(3), pages 1085-1101, September.
    11. Gerrit Antonides, 2017. "Sustainable Consumer Behaviour: A Collection of Empirical Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-5, September.
    12. Elizabeth Ransom, 2025. "Disaster response and sustainable transitions in agrifood systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 42(1), pages 121-138, March.
    13. Plateau, Lou & Roudart, Laurence & Hudon, Marek & Maréchal, Kevin, 2021. "Opening the organisational black box to grasp the difficulties of agroecological transition. An empirical analysis of tensions in agroecological production cooperatives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    14. Fanzo, Jessica & Haddad, Lawrence & Schneider, Kate R. & Béné, Christophe & Covic, Namukolo M. & Guarin, Alejandro & Herforth, Anna W. & Herrero, Mario & Sumaila, U. Rashid & Aburto, Nancy J. & Amuyun, 2021. "Viewpoint: Rigorous monitoring is necessary to guide food system transformation in the countdown to the 2030 global goals," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    15. Siegel, Karen M. & Bastos Lima, Mairon G., 2020. "When international sustainability frameworks encounter domestic politics: The sustainable development goals and agri-food governance in South America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    16. Michael Carolan, 2022. "Presences and absences in food systems depictions: a systematic visual content analysis," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(5), pages 1347-1358, October.
    17. Aurelija Paulauskienė & Daiva Šileikienė & Rasa Karklelienė & Živilė Tarasevičienė & Laima Česonienė, 2023. "Quality Research of the Beetroots ( Beta vulgaris L., ssp. vulgaris var. conditiva Alef.) Grown in Different Farming Systems Applying Chemical and Holistic Research Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-14, April.
    18. Séverine Gojard & Bérangère Véron, 2018. "Shopping and cooking: the organization of food practices, at the crossing of access to food stores and household properties in France," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 99(1), pages 97-119, June.
    19. Esther J. Veen & Sara A. L. Smaal & Yassir Sefu & Melissa Korn, 2025. "Cooking Across Cultures: Everyday Food Provisioning in Multicultural Almere," Societies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, February.
    20. Fuentes, Christian & Cegrell, Olivia & Vesterinen, Josefine, 2021. "Digitally enabling sustainable food shopping: App glitches, practice conflicts, and digital failure," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

    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:41:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-023-10513-8. 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.