Living Together: a study of Hansalim as a model for solidarity pathways towards sustainable food systems

Is the solidarity economy an impractical idealistic dream or can cooperatives really make a significant contribution to realising sustainable agri-food systems?

With the global food system in crisis, there is an urgent need to study alternatives to the modern industrial food system and to share practical and policy lessons for sustainability transformations.There is an accumulation of evidence across Europe that certain kinds of cooperatives which bring farmers and consumers together – multi-stakeholder cooperatives (MSC) – can function successfully to promote sustainable agri-food systems at a small scale.

Yet there is little research on the extent to which they represent a pathway to wider transformation.Through this fellowship, my goal is to enlarge the global conversation about the role of the solidarity economy in food system transformations by supporting shared learning between East and West and academia and cooperative movements.

To achieve this, I have planned an extensive period of participatory fieldwork to conduct an in-depth case study of a little-known Korean cooperative, Hansalim, which has grown to become the largest organic food MSC in the world.

It embodies a possible model of a large-scale alternative to the modern industrial food system with wider implications for broader societal transformation.

This project will culminate in the publication of a series of academic papers and a book about Hansalim for popular readership to reach the widest possible English-speaking audience.