Rural Europe Redux? Reflections on Alternative Agro‐Food Networks and Paradigm Change

Abstract

This paper examines some recent analyses of alternative agro‐food networks (AAFNs) and claims that these innovative modes of food provisioning are emblematic of a new rural development paradigm in Western Europe. A political‐economic critique of the territorialised, farm‐centric value added strategies underlying these claims suggests that this characterisation is overdrawn and premature. The neglect of the consumption side of the rural development equation also argues for a more modest assessment of AAFNs and their paradigmatic potential.