Food community networks as sustainable self-organized collective action: a case study of a solidarity purchasing group

Abstract

The spread of Food Community Networks (FCNs) is mainly due to new and confirmed policies for consumption, testing new social paradigms aimed at promoting sustainable development in rural areas through the active reorganization of the agricultural and food industry. As a result, there is a set of rules deriving from complex relational structures competing to define self-organized collective action for sustainability. This paper analyses the structure of relations within FCNs. With this end in view, research on the experience of FCNs has been done, in particular of Solidarity Purchasing Groups (henceforth SPGs) in Sicily (Southern Italy). By applying Social Network Analysis, the article identifies what role each participant in the network plays; that is, who can influence long-term collective action.