We seek, in this paper, to bring together two convergent
areas of increasing academic interest: widely held public
concerns about the environmental, social, and economic
impacts of industrialized agriculture; and the emergence of
leisure-based counter-hegemonic activities through which
people try to give meaning to their lives by addressing
these concerns. We take as our starting point the increasing
global recognition of the deeply political nature of food
production and consumption (see, for example, Madden
and Finch 2006; Desmarais 2008; Mair et al. 2008; Yan
et al. 2011) and the ways in which many individuals and
communities seek to challenge the dominant ideology of
‘‘global food’’ (Carolan 2011). We know that, for many
people, counter-hegemony is expressed primarily through
conscious purchase and consumption decisions (Mair et al.
2008; Sassatelli and Davolio 2010; Dunlap 2012). Yet we
recognize that, for others, counter-hegemony involves a
commitment to production as well as consumption activities, often through membership of intentional food communities such as community supported agriculture (CSA)
projects