The food system as a commons

This chapter introduces the concept of food systems and focuses on the different components that may be individually conceived as commons and the way in which de-commodification may be exercised. It deals with practices and food policies that in our opinion could represent privileged platforms to conceive, implement and consolidate the idea of food systems as a commons. Where the territory of food production meets the transnationalism of trade, ‘consumption’ and ‘post-consumption’, that we realize that the commoning of food at the end of the chain cannot be considered enough. Movements and organizations that aim to protect and safeguard food and are evidence of the intrinsic interconnections between food and a collective way of being, but also between food, history and identity. The intangible relevance of food goes beyond its cultural and ‘traditional’ aspects and concerns the way in which food production and consumption shape the landscape and vice versa.