Hierarchies, overlaps and conflict of values in alternative food networks: experiences and perspectives from producers and suppliers in Castile and León, Spain

In recent decades we have witnessed, from numerous academic fields, an exponential growth in studies on sustainable food practices, focusing on aspects as diverse as the organization of community initiatives, new agricultural techniques, food security and sovereignty, emerging dietary patterns and change-promoting social movements, among others. Within the cultural aspects that intersect in these practices, the ethical-moral components —i.e., the core values that underlie their participation and development—, remain largely unexplored, demanding greater attention from disciplines such as anthropology. Values play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable food practices, influencing individual choices, community behaviors, policy decisions and the expansion of new ways of understanding supply chains. The different actors involved in these emerging food cultures hold and exercise several types of values, according to their needs, backgrounds and contexts of participation. This article presents an ethnographic exploration of the value-sets identified within Alternative Food Networks, more precisely the drivers and narratives of farmers, producers and suppliers involved in sustainable initiatives in the region of Castile and Leon, Spain. The findings will examine the social, environmental/ecological and economic/political dimensions present in their experiences, with special attention to the possible hierarchies, overlaps and conflicts that may exist between the different identified attributes.