A research project on a Local food system in Finland, Sweden & Latvia

Tag: alternative food system

  • Rethinking REKO Through Marketplace Mythologies

    Rethinking REKO Through Marketplace Mythologies

    In this blog post, I share some of my ideas about how the REKO local food network functions as a socio-material space shaped by powerful marketplace mythologies. My thinking is based on seeing these myths as the shared narratives and practices that influence what we see as “normal” or “good” in market life. REKO is…

  • REKO AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO … WHAT?

    REKO AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO … WHAT?

    REKO is an alternative local food network (Leipämaa-Leskinen, 2021). But what is REKO an alternative to? This is a question that has puzzled us since we started exploring REKO in 2013 and revisited it in 2023. In this blog text, we reflect on the question through our past and current ethnographic research. Hanna has been…

  • A reflection on the unexpected intersection of social media, alternative food markets, and the complexities of algorithmic governance

    In 2010, I began researching the impact of social media on the boundary between work and personal life. This was six years after Facebook’s inception and six years before the introduction of Facebook Marketplace and the formalization of platform-based buying and selling. At the time, I couldn’t have foreseen the emergence of alternative food markets…

  • Unusual Organization in Unusual Places: Where is REKO?

    Unusual Organization in Unusual Places: Where is REKO?

    I have long had a fascination with places. When I arrive somewhere, I like to walk the streets, the forests paths, or visit a supermarket. These all tell me something, albeit I am not always sure of what. And when returning to places previously visited, like Kraków, or more familiar places like my family´s country house,…

  • The Buzz of a New REKO Ring: Vaksala Torg

    The Buzz of a New REKO Ring: Vaksala Torg

    Wednesday, August 28. Uppsala, Sweden. There is a new REKO ring in town. It is located in the middle of the city, at a large square near the central train station. Here in Uppsala, where I live, previous rings have all been located outside the city center, as they usually are. This ‘move’ makes it…