Discussants: 

• Alice Dal Gobbo, Università di Trento
• Mattia Andreola, Università di Trento

Chair:

• Júlia Tena Mensa, Università di Trento

Food insecurity and the unequal distribution of power in the hegemonic food system mobilised, in the search for solutions, social actors acting in all axes of this system.

The Civic Food Networks (CFNs) are the links of social actors, such as institutions, social organisations, farmers and consumers, who act in a citizen way in the food system. These networks work using short food supply chains (SFSCs). This research studied the existing social relations in the surroundings of short food supply chains (SFSCs) of agroecological foods, comparatively, in the Province of Trento (IT) and the Grande Florianópolis Region-GFR (BR). Our aim was to understand whether civic food networks are formed in the territories, and if so, what contributes to agroecology in the food systems.

Direct and participant observation, database consultation, document analysis, semi-structured interviews with key actors and structured interviews using the application of questionnaires with farmers, were carried out. In the GFR, we identified a consolidated CFN with broad reach and strong participation of organisations supporting agroecology and political representation instances.

In the Province of Trento, an embryonic CFN was found, with limited mobilisation of farmers and developed through government initiatives and the local public university. Family farmers involved in SFSCs, regardless of their degree of involvement in CFNs, demonstrated high biodiversity, partial autonomy in resource utilisation, and a high degree of self-produced food.

We concluded that CFNs are not the prerequisites for promoting agroecology, meanwhile, in the establishment of markets of interest for local producers and consumers, SFSCs are formed in both studied territories, creating conditions for expanding coordination between individual and organisational actors, thus enhancing network formation. This complex movement fosters agroecology.

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