Socio-spatial relations of care in community food project patronage

In light of greater attention to the ethical dimensions of consumption and consumer behaviour in recent years, researchers are increasingly excavating the ethical bases of consumer engagement in various food procurement channels. Only a fairly narrow range of usual suspects has been the subject of study, however, including conventional grocery stores and community supported agriculture. This article considers the same question about community food projects; specifically, it explores the nature of customers’ involvement in, and perceived benefits from, a Good Food Box (GFB) programme in south-eastern Ontario, Canada. Using qualitative evidence from mail-in surveys and interviews, the paper draws from Foucault’s later work to consider the construction and maintenance of particular socio-spatial relations of care for both self and proximate others through food provisioning. As a predominantly self-caring act, GFB participation is motivated by frugality and physical health. When participants care for others through their patronage, prominent themes include helping less economically fortunate others, local farmers and family. The paper concludes by emphasizing the pervasiveness of care in consumerist activity and with outstanding questions about caring at a distance and the politics of educating consumer-subjects for ethical consciousness-raising.