Hidden Harvest's Transformative Potential: An Example of 'Community Economy'

Patricia Ballamingie,Irena Knezevic,Chloé Poitevin-Desrivières

doi:10.5304/jafscd.2019.091.036

Patricia Ballamingie, Irena Knezevic + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2019.091.036

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Abstract

Drawing on an in-depth case study of Hidden Harvest Ottawa—a for-profit social enterprise that aims to legitimize and support the practice of harvesting fruits and nuts in urban areas—this article explores the transformative potential (both realized and unrealized) of place-based urban foraging. It briefly delineates the organizational model employed, including its innovative practices and strategic 5-year vision. It then explores Hidden Harvest’s transformative potential realized: notably, it reconceptualizes surplus (and thus profit); makes visible a nonmonetary social return on investment (SROI, defined as substantive contributions to building community, adaptive capacity, prosperity, social capital, and community-based food security); normalizes access to public space for food provisioning; and, finally, frames Hidden Harvest as an illustrative example of Gibson-Graham’s (2006) notions of community/alternative/ethical economy, an initiative that destabilizes dominant economic assumptions while fostering meaningful interconnection. Throughout this article, we argue that only through collective resignification of our economy can initiatives such as Hidden Harvest adequately receive the support warranted by its impact and outcomes to fully realize its potential and achieve long-term viability. See the press release for this article.

Highlights

Gleaning, a term historically associated with the harvest of surplus or economically nonviable produce from farmland, has been extended over the past two-and-a-half decades to include the collection of fruit and nuts in urban areas, sometimes described as fruit “rescue.” Food rescue organizations can be found throughout North America, and are largely citizen-based and volunteer-driven
In Canada, volunteer-led urban harvesting initiatives have emerged in many major cities: for example, LifeCycles, in Victoria (1994); Not Far From the Tree, in Toronto (2008); Operation Fruit Rescue, in Edmonton (2009); and Les Fruits Défendus, in Montreal (2011/2)
The larger driving forces for groups like Hidden Harvest include social dimensions such as building community, environmental considerations such as diverting waste, and the desire to contribute to systemic change

Summary

Introduction

A term historically associated with the harvest of surplus or economically nonviable produce from farmland, has been extended over the past two-and-a-half decades to include the collection of fruit and nuts in urban areas, sometimes described as fruit “rescue.” Food rescue organizations can be found throughout North America, and are largely citizen-based and volunteer-driven.

Results

Conclusion