Participation for what? Organizational roles, quality conventions and purchasing behaviors in solidarity purchasing groups

The paper deals with the self-representation and the consumer experience of the members of solidarity purchasing groups. A previous contribution on this topic shows that members of SPGs, unlike consumers in other alternative food networks (AFNs), lend little importance to socially relevant meanings represented by food (environment, tradition, community and producers commitment) (Barbera et al. 2017). Starting from this counterintuitive result, in the proposed paper we will test the hypothesis according to which members of SPGs are dissatisfied with the passive adherence to the principles of fair consumption, aiming to determine the consumer practice in an active and shared way. In this form of participation, therefore, the quality of the agri-food products can be defined and perceived in different ways by the SPGs’ members, or even have an ancillary role. What is key is indeed the kind of participative experience. In this regard, the voluntary work by members is to be understood not only – and not so much – as a method to lower the group’s operating costs, but rather as a way to give active meaning to critical consumption. These dynamics will be explored in a specific socio-spatial context, namely the Piedmont region in Italy. This area constitutes a relevant case study for its lively agro-food panorama – there are numerous and differentiated experiences related to AFNs; several institutional, non-profit, and private actors involved in the local agri-food sector; the region is the birthplace of the Slow Food movement and Eataly – and, more specifically, for the substantial presence of SPGs (no less than 170 in the entire region, over 130 of which are located in the Turin province). The research is carried out through a mixed-method approach – combining quantitative analysis on data from a survey conducted among SPGs members and qualitative in-depth interviews to the managers of these groups. In detail, about 150 questionnaires (part of an extensive survey on consumers’ behaviour in AFNs, for a total of more than a thousand questionnaires) were administered in four different SPGs in the Turin province, selected according to location (in the city or in the neighbouring municipalities) and number of members (small-medium groups, up to 50 adherents, and groups with more than 50 members). The manager of each group was also interviewed.