BMBF Future Food Commons (FuFoCo)
Sharing Economy in food system supply - new models of consumer-producer interaction, trends and impacts
The focus of this research project is the consumer area of nutrition. Changes in the area of new, flexible forms of consumer-producer interaction (KPI) are already emerging here, challenging traditional models of ownership and consumption.
The foresight process of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) showed that these forms of consumer-producer interactions are social innovations and that these sharing economy practices challenge the existing economy. While consumers in established systems are largely decoupled from production, the new sharing concepts present themselves as different constellations of KPIs, which are accompanied by shortening of the food chain, the application of sustainable production processes and the adaptation of production innovations. Models such as commons, community and rented gardens, or solidarity-based agriculture rely on new, flexible levels of interaction by involving consumers in the production process and the communal sustainable use and sharing of resources, especially land, labor, means of production, money, but also knowledge. In the context of a paradigm shift, these new sharing concepts can gain considerably in importance and entail significant potential, but also risks, for sustainable development, prosperity and quality of life.