Collective Consumption and Food System Complexity:

Abstract

Focusing on consumption as key to managing complex food system dynamics has drawn controversy from scholars and activists who argue that a focus on consumption obfuscates the social and ecological consequences of the larger transnational food system. We argue that these concerns, while holding merit, are grounded in assumptions about food systems that fail to grasp the importance of agency as much as structure. Starting from an appreciation for the transdisciplinary fusion of knowledge and concepts across governance, political economy, and urban complexity, we utilize the concept of “collective consumption” as a way to rethink how a consumption politics can help transform the larger system through collaborative governance at the local or regional scale. We take Food Policy Councils (FPCs) in the United States as our subject to explore how experimental governance arrangements can reshape the way political organization around food consumption can drive longer term transformation. Our paper proceeds in four parts. First, we dive into Castells’ use of collective consumption as it relates to urban politics, which includes a close assessment of how both “consumption” and “collectivity” are relevant to urban food systems governance. Second, we offer a view of how collective consumption can be utilized to promote a justice-based perspective in urban food governance, which promotes socio-natural transformation of the current agro-industrial food system. Third, we develop a framework for imagining the possibilities of FPCs as part of new collaborative state-society relationships, offering a distinct reterritorialization of urban food politics tied to a socio-natural politics of urban metabolism. Finally, we conclude by offering comments on future challenges and opportunities in realizing the radical governance potential of FPCs.