Bottom-up self-protection responses to China's food safety crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACTFood safety became a major concern in China since 2000, triggering movements by peasants and urban consumers for self-protection. Drawing on participant observation, semi-structured interviews and examination of government documents in two rural communities, I analyse the drivers, character, potential and challenges of “bottom-up” self-protection movements. These originate with peasants, while scholars, social activists and some urban middle class consumers combine with peasant cooperatives to reconstruct mutual trust and promote rural-urban coordinated development. This countermovement has potential to resolve the food safety crisis, but it faces structural pressures from market forces and challenges of governance, consumer awareness and peasant organisation.