Community Supported Agriculture and Food Democracy: Güdül-Ankara

This study aims to understand how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Cittaslow Güdül aligns with the New Solidarity Economy (NSE) and fosters a movement towards food democracy. NSE represents a re-socialization and re-spatialization of food, driven by ethical consumption and new technologies. The study focuses on the Tahtacıörencik Natural Life Collective (TADYA-Güdül), a hybrid CSA model that connects producers and consumers directly without intermediaries, utilizing new technological marketing and communication tools. In industrialized societies, access to good, clean, and fair food has become an increasingly pressing issue associated with quality of life. The Green Revolution, that sought to address global hunger through large-scale agricultural production, introduced significant health and environmental concerns that particularly affect vulnerable communities. Moreover, contemporary mass consumption, deeply embedded in social culture and controlled by the global market economy, leaves little room for individual agency. In response, movements promoting sustainable consumption—slow, green, minimalist, freeganist, prosumer—have emerged. These movements advocate for equality, justice, and democracy especially regarding nutrition. From a relational perspective, food acts as an agent that shapes social, economic, and political relationships, aligning with Latour’s Actor Network Theory (ANT). This qualitative study employs netnography to conduct online interviews with TADYA producers (15) and in-depth interviews with consumers (10), discussions with leaders of active organizations in the region (6). The collected data is analyzed using discourse analysis to understand producers’ motivations, consumers’ lifestyles, and leaders’ contributions. Findings reveal that CSA represents a form of social innovation, creating urban-rural proximity through reciprocity, transparency, and direct dialogue as articulated by Polanyi. TADYA, that is supported by NGOs in Ankara, acts as a mediator, offering access to quality food, fair trade for producers, and environmental protection. Understanding the CSA's role in promoting food justice in the Anthropocene era is vital for building sustainable consumption models through solidarity economics.