Very broadly, my research interests concern sustainable livelihoods, and the ways in which the shift towards greater sustainability can be equitable and inclusive.
More specifically, I am interested in the potential for food systems that are sustainable, both socially and environmentally.
This page introduces the masters research project which I have recently completed at the University of Edinburgh, and then outlines how I plan to expand these research interests in the future.
current research
My interest in sustainable food systems has led to a masters project which explores localism in alternative food networks.
Working with a range of individuals and groups involved in local-eating advocacy in Scotland, the research asks how the 'local' is constructed as a space of opposition and empowerment.
The research engages with existing literatures on alternative food networks, and addresses in particular the assertion that local food experiments are defensive, unreflexive or parochial. It also engages with literatures surrounding identity and subjectivity, neoliberalism, and power, seeking to produce an account of a local eating experiment which can explore the identities and subject-positions produced without closing off a forward-looking politics of possibility.
More information about the research is available on the project website, which also hosts a blog where I write commentary on local foods issues (recent post titles displayed above).
Click here to read the abstract for my masters dissertation
The presentation of my research project given recently at the Postgraduate Conference of the Institute of Geography is included below.
presentation of current research
Use the arrow buttons to scroll through the slides. Slideshare does not support animation, so apologies where elements cover each other.
future research directions
I plan to continue researching alternative food networks in the broader context of shifts towards sustainability. My interests lie in three areas:
- The role of alternative food networks in changing rural-urban relations Food is central to relationship between urban and rural areas. Many rural areas are undergoing rapid and unsustainable change, often closely linked to the production of food for urban consumers. I am interested in the ways that alternative food networks might provide alternative models for rural-urban relationships mediated through food.
- The ways in which agricultural practices can be incorporated into sustainable urban design While many alternative food networks build on traditional rural farming structures, these models are increasingly being adapted to fit into the design of sustainable urban spaces. Urban agriculture, city farms, suburban community supported agriculture, even guerrilla gardening - these are all evidence of a shift in the type of space occupied by agriculture in the society today. I am interested in exploring the possibilities for positive socio-environmental change through the incorporation of agricultural practices into urban areas.
- The way food practices contribute to personal and group identity It has been suggested that alternative food network practices reproduce noliberal subjectivities, due to an emphasis on localism and consumer choice. This approach to theorising food practices and identity risks producing an unconstructive account which denies the individual a positive political role in changing contemporary food systems. I am interested in exploring a theoretical approach which recognises the discursive structures of neoliberalism, but does not assign them complete power over the individual.
