Investigating the potential of cooperatives to re-embed the economy: a multiple case study of food cooperatives in Belgium

It is now widely acknowledged that the development of conventional capitalist food systems has provoked multiple social, environmental and economic problems which are undermining the sustainability of the agro-food industry. As a response, many bottom-up, solution-oriented initiatives have flourished. Among them, food cooperatives have brought together citizens, producers, entrepreneurs, distributors and other actors to build alternative, sustainable, local food systems along the entire food supply chain. The capacity of these diverse cooperatives to move the economy towards sustainability remains unclear. To investigate this, we conducted a qualitative study involving three food cooperatives in Belgium. By examining how they have implemented two cooperative principles, we explored to what extent they are helping to “re-embed” the economy in society. From an empirical point of view, we offer a typology of food cooperatives and their “re-embedding potential” as a new research hypothesis. The typology has two dimensions: (i) surplus distribution i.e. from “investment-fuelled action” to “community-fuelled action” and (ii) the relationships between consumers and producers i.e. from “purely commercial relationships” to “cooperative partnerships”. It has enabled us to contrast the paradoxes inherent to cooperatives and their potential to transform the economy brick by brick with their values and ethics.