Sustainable Development and Communication in Global Food Networks: Lessons From India

Abstract

This book offers a novel approach to sustainable development through the theory and practice of communication in global food networks, focusing specifically on organic food and fair trade movements. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, it brings together the fields of Communication for Development and Social Change, Agri-Food Studies and Economic Geography. This is supported with a participatory method that unveils voices from Indian farming communities, small European businesses and UK-based consumers. The book exemplifies the integral role of communication in sustainable development through direct and mediated communication processes that bring these actors together in the global food market. Such processes include trade relations, self-representation, and information and knowledge exchange through the spaces of the internet. Through these processes the book uncovers the instrumental role of communication in building a more holistic understanding of sustainable development. It also advocates that sustainable solutions require smaller, self-sustained projects and initiatives that pay closer attention to the voices and localized experiences of the people on the ground.