Impacting conventional foodways with food democracy: Diverse scaling strategies in Alternative Food Networks

Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) have received growing attention for their potential to promote sustainability, foster social innovation, and challenge dominant agri-food regimes. These value-driven initiatives offer both practical alternatives and critical responses to industrialised food systems, seeking to align food production and consumption with ecological, social, and ethical priorities. This paper examines four AFNs across different European contexts to explore how diverse scaling strategies – scaling deep, up, out, and through – are employed to expand their reach and influence. While often situated at the margins of conventional markets, AFNs serve as laboratories for experimenting with democratic governance and participatory organisational models. Through an analysis of their internal dynamics and external alliances, the paper shows how scaling efforts intersect with broader aims of food democracy, particularly in enhancing citizen agency and inclusivity. The findings underscore the importance of re-politicising food systems and building transformative pathways toward more just and sustainable food futures.