ABSTRACT
The current global industrial food system is being challenged by incidents of insecurity, as food supply is at risk from weather extremes in times of climate change, as fluctuating prices dictated by the global market result in food riots around the world, and as food scares from hidden production processes cause consumer concern and food loss. Rather than recognize the industrial food system as the only food procurement option, in this chapter I draw attention to the persistence of non-capitalist food economies and the emergence of new, innovative models. These untamed – in the sense of unfunded, unregulated and diverse – social food economies are found in cities both where issues of food insecurity and sustainability are paramount, and where the people and resources required to resolve these issues can be found. I tell the stories of people who are gleaning, growing and gifting foods in Sydney, Australia, to ask how social food economies contribute to secure and sustainable food systems.
