Alternative Food Networks and Farmer Livelihoods: A Spatializing Livelihoods Perspective

I begin this article by examining existing approaches to the study of AFNs with a particular focus on the literature on farmer livelihoods in AFNs that has utilized the “value-added” approach. I critically assess the merits of this approach before turning to the more holistic account of livelihoods articulated in the “Sustainable Livelihoods Approach” (SLA) (Scoones, 2009). Both scholars of AFNs and SLA have highlighted the importance of understanding how multiple spatialities influence farmer livelihoods, but researchers have yet to develop a comprehensive framework that highlights their co-implication for livelihood strategies. By including an understanding of space, place, scale and networks into SLA, I compare and analyze two case studies of AFNs in Lithuania, and I demonstrate the explanatory potential of a Spatializing Livelihoods Perspective