Home About Browse Search
Svenska


Björklund Svensson, Sitha, 2024. Power and Justice in Urban Foodscapes : a case of the food retail sector in Malmö, Sweden. Second cycle, A2E. Alnarp: SLU, Dept. of Biosystems and Technology (from 130101)

[img]
Preview
PDF
4MB

Abstract

Of the many challenges facing the global industrial food system, the concentration of power is at the centre. A decreasing number of corporations have increasing control over what, where, how and for whom food is produced, distributed and sold. In Sweden, the food retail sector is characterized by an oligopoly of three corporations owning 90% of the market. This research highlights how the uniform food retail sector constrains sustainable food systems transformation. The food retail sector is the main link between farmers and citizens in the industrial food system. In many ways, farmers are trapped in the ‘treadmill’ of agribusiness, and consumer demand is an insufficient tool to achieve profound change.
Through the lens of political agroecology and urban food planning, this research investigates how national policy and local planning shapes the food retail sector and how this sector in turn shapes the food system. Through a qualitative and comparative case study of the city of Malmö, Sweden, the research examines how the food retail sector influences urban foodscapes and what that signifies for food sovereignty and food justice for the citizens of Malmö, and beyond. The methods include a policy review, interviews with key stakeholders, foodscape mapping, and field observations. Findings suggest that national and municipal governance protect hegemonic structures in the food system through supporting dominating food retail. On a national level, these asymmetric power relations disfavor food producers, especially smaller and sustainable production, and consumer-citizens through the promotion of corporate diets. On a local level, food retail shapes urban populations’ availability to food, which varies between socioeconomic weaker and stronger areas. Concepts of food sovereignty and food justice were used to reflect upon citizens’ accessibility to nutritious, sustainably produced and culturally appropriate foods through urban food retail.

Main title:Power and Justice in Urban Foodscapes
Subtitle:a case of the food retail sector in Malmö, Sweden
Authors:Björklund Svensson, Sitha
Supervisor:McCormick, Kes and Silow, Love
Examiner:Bååth, Jonas
Series:UNSPECIFIED
Volume/Sequential designation:UNSPECIFIED
Year of Publication:2024
Level and depth descriptor:Second cycle, A2E
Student's programme affiliation:LM005 Agroecology - Master's programme 120 HEC
Supervising department:(LTJ, LTV) > Dept. of Biosystems and Technology (from 130101)
Keywords:food retail, food justice, food sovereignty, foodscape mapping, political agroecology, urban food planning, Malmö
URN:NBN:urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-20521
Permanent URL:
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-20521
Language:English
Deposited On:18 Sep 2024 07:20
Metadata Last Modified:18 Sep 2024 07:20

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per year (since September 2012)

View more statistics