Mapping social networks in the Athens Ohio local food system : Recognizing the role of relationships, radical social movements, bioregionalism, and cooperative organizing in the emergence of one of America's most notable community-based food systems
(Book - Regular Print)

Thesis,MSFS,Green Mountain College,2013

Includes bibliographical references.

The re-localization of food systems is a movement gaining traction throughout the world, due in large part to the inherent lack of environmental sustainability and social equality found within the dominant, highly corporatized and globalized food system model. My position is that all food systems are most effectively considered as complex adaptive systems and that change is an emergent structure which can be guided toward a more localized, resilient, community-based food system with the capacity for broad social transformation by recognizing the social networks involved. To this end, I provide a case study of social networks found within the local food system in Athens, Ohio, identifying the role of relationships, radical social movements, bioregionalism, and cooperative organizing in this community-based food system noted nationally for its achievements and high level cooperative dynamics. The research draws upon qualitative, ethnographically-based methods as well as social network analysis to provide the quantitative conceptual models considered. The influences of the American counterculture on the emergence of a cooperative local food system infrastructure in the Athens area are profound. The transformative goals of radical social movements embedded within a strong bioregional consciousness facilitates a vibrant and inclusive community-based food system that helps inform an understanding of the potential for the emergence of successful, non-linear and self-organized, local food systems.