Weaving Chains of Grain ALTERNATIVE GRAIN NETWORKS AND SOCIAL VALUE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

The development and diversification of short lend supply chains is a primary characteristic of burgeoning alternative food networks and systems in North America. This paper examines several grain production initiatives in southwest British Columbia that respond to the commodification and concentration of conventional, globalized grain production by developing alternative and socially embedded networks that, transform the way grain travels hymn field to plate. Based on a multi-sited ethnography of emerging "grain chains," we argue that these new short, Mod supply chains strengthen existing connections in alternative food networks as well as assist in developing new ones. Localized grain chains thus serve as mobilizing structures that strengthen the organizational capacity of alternative Mod systems. Exhibiting dynamic social histories that link landscapes, farmers, processors and consumers, these alternative grain chains function by facilitating the traceability of local food production, preserving the identity of local producers and consumers, redefining the range of local food production, and testing and strengthening the development of niche markets.