Revealing the circularities in farmers’ market networked infrastructure of Western Anatolia

Abstract

ABSTRACT The research goal herein was to characterize the innovations on which the building of circularities in the Western Anatolian Farmers’ Market Network was founded. In other words, rather than new circular economy research, this is the revelation and reconstruction of a highly networked food infrastructure that has been a locally rooted activity in daily life for centuries in different geographies, in different spatial and social forms, which neoliberal agricultural and marketing policies have recently attempted to displace. With this research, the nature of the food chain of these market territories, and the characteristics of their creators, were analysed in order to reveal how it transforms the physical and social territory. It was sought to explore and reveal the internal and external dynamics that form and foster the circularities while investigating the food network. This article attempted to contribute to discussions on ‘circularities in territories’ in the context of Western Anatolia. The main focus was on the farmers’ market networked infrastructure of the Küçük and Büyük Menderes River Basins due to their intertwined relationship with territories, rich product range, and deeply rooted market network. Farmers’ markets were inspected using the six ReSOLVE action plans.