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Priyal Ranka '25

Anthropology, Economics, and Earth & Environment, with a minor in Media Studies

The conventional food system encompasses monocultures, international trade, and corporate grocery chains. They are critiqued for their unsustainability and unethical supply-chains, that prioritize corporate profitability over the well-being of the people and planet. In counter, Alternative Food Initiatives (AFIs) are re-imagining a more just and sustainable system. Following the question, “In what ways are Utrecht's alternative food organizations achieving the theorized goals of AFIs, including issues of food justice, social connectedness, and environmental and health concerns?” This paper explores whether these aims for alternatives are being met in practice, through an in-depth case study of three types of AFIs, including community gardens, local zero-waste grocers, and anti-food-waste free social dinners.

What drew you to explore this topic?

My interest in and pursuit of this subject stems from my participation in Toronto's AFIs during an exchange semester, where my involvement in local community gardens and farmers' markets revealed both the transformative potential as well as systemic challenges of such initiatives. These experiences, combined with growing scholarly recognition of how food practices intersect with socio-ecological injustices, motivated my ethnographic investigation of Utrecht's AFI ecosystem.

What’s the next chapter in your journey post-graduation?

I am part of the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��, pursuing my postgraduate diploma in Liberal Studies.