Alternative Food Networks, Social Capital, and Public Policy in Mexico City

Social initiatives that seek to promote socially fairer and environmentally more sustainable food production and distribution schemes have multiplied in the last two decades. Several studies have analysed their impacts and showed high contextual variability, making visible some of their contradictions. This research is interested in Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) as spaces of political mobilisation that aim to modify the predominant food systems. The analysis focuses on the role played by social capital in the capacities and strategies of AFNs to influence the design of public policies. The research was carried out in Mexico City as part of a wither participatory action research project. It is based on participant observation and discussion groups with representatives of citizen collectives involved in agroecological food distribution. The results show that the forms of social and cultural capital are key factors in understanding the interest and capacities of AFNs to strengthen collective action. The study also identifies the importance of the initiatives’ managers as facilitators of interactions between AFNs and other entities, such as universities and civil society organisations, which can ease the influence of social initiatives in the design of public programmes.