Alternative Food Initiatives in Germany and the Value of "Good Food”

For several decades, alternative food initiatives have been advocating and acting to transform food systems. Valuing local food and bringing consumers and producers closer together are some of the strategies they have adopted to ensure 'good food for all'. In Germany, these initiatives take different forms, such as CSAs, food cooperatives and other consumer and citizen-led movements.

This paper takes a closer look at three different initiatives in the country: a consumer cooperative supermarket, the Slow Food movement and Food Policy Councils, which address different spheres of change (market, civil society, politics).

Slow Food's philosophy is "good, clean and fair food for all", and the international flag is translated in different ways in the German branch. One of these is a commission for food quality and the creation of standards that would guarantee "good food". Combining intangible principles such as solidarity, equality, sustainability and mutual trust with economic value is one of the biggest challenges for the movement.

The cooperative supermarkets studied face similar challenges. They present themselves as a community working to ensure that everyone has access to good, healthy and fairly produced food.

Finally, food policy councils bring together different stakeholders to promote more democratic and just participation and co-determination in (local) food policy. Despite initial successes, there is still a long way to go to meet the demand for good food for and with 'everyone at the table'.

The aim is to empirically explore what the concept of 'good food' means in these different types of initiatives, the similarities and differences, the potentials and limitations. Furthermore, comparing the different strategies and scales of collective action provides new insights into social innovation and value creation around food system transformation in Germany and beyond.