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- Panel 7-2 Alternative Food Networks Put to the Test: A Case Study of An Indigenous Plant-centred Supply Chain in Peninsular Malaysia /Eric P. OLMEDO
Panel 7-2 Alternative Food Networks Put to the Test: A Case Study of An Indigenous Plant-centred Supply Chain in Peninsular Malaysia /Eric P. OLMEDO
Eric P. OLMEDO
Principal Fellow, Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), National University of Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia
A substantial volume of social science, natural sciences, as well as humanities research is being directed at studying food systems regarded somehow as ‘alternative’ to ‘conventional’ ways of food provisioning. This great amount of scholarly work has been building on a variety of key concepts in an attempt to delineate the boundaries of what an AFN could be. Researchers have notably drawn from such diverse notions as convention theory, conventionalisation, cultural embeddedness, ethical trading, quality foods, reflexive localism, spatial dynamics of care, and sustainable agriculture. One can see that, with time, endeavouring to define what an AFN actually is has become increasingly complex and multidimensional at best. As intellectually stimulating as this maybe, such definitions remain mostly abstract in nature. This paper presents an ethnographic account of the localised implementation of an inclusive and sustainable edible plant-centred supply chain curated by indigenous people from Peninsular Malaysia. Upon reflection and analysis of the actualisation of this short food supply chain, we inductively derive our own empirically-rooted contribution to the definition of an alternative food network in a specific Malaysian context. In conclusion, we attempt to respond to some scholarly calls urging us to move beyond a prevalent ‘alternative’–‘conventional’ dualism, by making suggestions for future theoretical and empirical studies, including a call for greater application of key sociological analytical constructs of power, class, inequality and social justice.
Keywords: Alternative Food Networks, indigenous, food supply chain, wild edible plants, Malaysia
Principal Fellow, Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), National University of Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia
A substantial volume of social science, natural sciences, as well as humanities research is being directed at studying food systems regarded somehow as ‘alternative’ to ‘conventional’ ways of food provisioning. This great amount of scholarly work has been building on a variety of key concepts in an attempt to delineate the boundaries of what an AFN could be. Researchers have notably drawn from such diverse notions as convention theory, conventionalisation, cultural embeddedness, ethical trading, quality foods, reflexive localism, spatial dynamics of care, and sustainable agriculture. One can see that, with time, endeavouring to define what an AFN actually is has become increasingly complex and multidimensional at best. As intellectually stimulating as this maybe, such definitions remain mostly abstract in nature. This paper presents an ethnographic account of the localised implementation of an inclusive and sustainable edible plant-centred supply chain curated by indigenous people from Peninsular Malaysia. Upon reflection and analysis of the actualisation of this short food supply chain, we inductively derive our own empirically-rooted contribution to the definition of an alternative food network in a specific Malaysian context. In conclusion, we attempt to respond to some scholarly calls urging us to move beyond a prevalent ‘alternative’–‘conventional’ dualism, by making suggestions for future theoretical and empirical studies, including a call for greater application of key sociological analytical constructs of power, class, inequality and social justice.
Keywords: Alternative Food Networks, indigenous, food supply chain, wild edible plants, Malaysia