From the social to the economical and beyond?: A relational approach to the historical development of Danish organic food networks

Summary

The organic movement has its roots in a critical attitude towards the capitalist development of farming and food systems and constitutes in that sense an alternative to conventional food systems. The article aims at exploring which meaning the notions of ‘alternative’ and ‘conventional’ carry, using the historical development of organic food in Denmark as an example. From the 1970s and onwards, organic food networks in Denmark have evolved from being primarily a marginal social movement to becoming included in the market mainstream. The social and spatial settings for organic food networks in Denmark have thus been significantly altered. Using debates on the conventionalisation of organic food systems as the starting point, it is argued in this article that this development in Denmark can be interpreted from a relational perspective as an ongoing process of establishing organizational innovations, which transcends established dichotomies between notions like alternative and mainstream.