The dynamics of alternative food consumption: contexts, opportunities and transformations

Abstract

Can consumers contribute to a more sustainable world? In this article we describe alternative consumption in Norway, exemplified by organic food, and discuss the role of consumers in promoting change. The paper is based on studies undertaken at the Norwegian National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO) during the last 15 years. The analysis starts by considering the origin of the organic movement in Norway and follows its development, showing that over the years consumption of organic products has reached a noteworthy position in the conventional market. While organic products seem to face conventionalisation, other alternative initiatives are emerging, such as fair trade, farmers’ market, farm food outlets, box schemes and community supported agriculture (CSA). Agreeing with the critique of a ‘generic active consumer model’, the article makes the case that the consumer’s role must be understood contextually and within its limitations. At the same time, the data presented in this article show that within shifting contextual frameworks, consumers utilise consumption with the goal of producing change. The paper suggests that forms of consumption defined as alternative are socially contested and the products that consumers identify as alternative are those that, in a given time and space, best reflect alternative values.