Dr. Anne Siebert, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the IEE, has authored a contribution to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia on Food Studies in which she focuses on the role of Community Food Initiatives:

Anne Siebert defines Community Food Initiates (CFIs) as made up of people who want to (re)shape their relationship with food and the socioecological space around them. These groups, networks, and movements can be understood as “responses from below” to the increasingly globalized and neoliberal agri-food system, in which people’s decisions in terms of what and how much food is consumed and how and where it is produced and prepared are increasingly determined by dominant market forces and the diminishing role of the state. Against this backdrop, Anne Siebert maps the spectrum of CFIs in terms of their values, ambitions, everyday practices, and locations. Her article help readers understand CFIs, their historical roots, and particularly their diverse work.

Siebert, Anne (2025): Community Food Initiatives, Oxford Research Encyclopedia on Food Studies: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780197762530.013.148.