How Social Enterprises Contribute to Alternative Food Systems

Abstract

The dominant trend is an increasing separation between the land and the food products, as well as the extension of the food chain: the increasing distance between places of production and places of consumption breaks the links with nature and culture. Social economy enterprises are able to develop innovative solutions that increase productivity while delivering better services in social, health, and education services. Their contribution to economic development and well-being has been confirmed by the recent economic crisis, which has highlighted the resilience of social economy and social enterprises as well as their capacity to generate new employment and preserve existing jobs. What does it mean for a social economy enterprise to take food into account? The paper contributes to this branch of studies with the aim of understanding how social enterprises are able to generate alternative food systems to promote food sovereignty and sustainability. Firstly, a review of the relevant literature is presented, with the aim of showing an overview of the relationship between social economy enterprises and sustainable development with a specific focus on sustainable food. Following this, after a description of the methodology employed, the experiences of a number of social enterprises of food sector among Europe that have implemented innovative projects involving sustainability and counteracting the desertification of rural areas, women’s employment, migrant integration, decent job conditions and work integration. This leads to a discussion of the results, the interpretation of the new roles of social enterprises, and the identification of the main implications. The main thing that links all these cases is five key elements, which are present in all the experiences we analysed: inclusion, equity, respect, responsibility and opportunity. These elements can be seen as keywords and important aspects for a transition towards more sustainable food systems through social economy enterprises.