Heterogeneity and agency in the contemporary food regime in Switzerland: among the food from nowhere, somewhere, and here sub-regimes

Abstract

AbstractThis study empirically illuminates the contemporary food regime in Switzerland to understand the organisation of food production, distribution, and consumption. From the perspective of food regime theory, it highlights in detail the (inter)relationships in the food regime between the food from nowhere, somewhere, and here sub-regimes using empirical means. Heterogeneous structures, processes, and relations that coexist within an umbrella food regime are examined. To address the criticisms of food regime theory ignoring social agency, this study further reveals collective agency and addresses the role of alternative food systems within the food regime in Switzerland. In-depth document analysis and subsequent qualitative data collection relying on expert interviews were performed. This study illustrates the collective agency shaping the contemporary food regime in Switzerland, encompassing private companies, relevant media, as well as associations and unions involved in farming, processing, and consumption. These influential entities and actor-networks advance different sub-regimes of food from nowhere, somewhere, and here that reflect the heterogeneity of the contemporary food regime in Switzerland. However, the data did not provide sufficient information to determine the collective agency of actors within the alternative food system. The dynamics of the food regime are shaped by contested social practices, which are influenced and interpreted through social agency. This results in an overlap of the sub-regimes that has led to strong counter-movements within the contemporary food regime in Switzerland.