Who Speaks for (and Feeds) the Community? Competing Definitions of “Community” in the Austin, TX, Urban Farm Debate

• The debates about rewriting Austin's farm code were contentious due to differing interpretations of "community" between urban farmers and their supporters, and long-established East Austin neighborhood members.

• Urban farmers and their supporters based their sense of community on values involving fresh, healthy food and the larger community of Austin.

• Advocates of stricter zoning laws described community in terms of the East Austin neighborhood, race, class, and being a good neighbor.

• The concept of interpretive communities is used to understand each group's position, with coalesced communities forming when interpretive communities feel threatened.

• Both sides in the Austin urban farm debates felt susceptible to proposed changes to the city's farm ordinances and coalesced around their core principles.

• Urban farming and gentrification are linked, with urban gardens helping "clean up" neglected areas and becoming vulnerable to gentrification as redevelopment brings in more affluent residents.

• Urban farming as a packaged production offers social and cultural capital in the form of events, dinners, and tours, which can foster connectivity and nostalgia.

• Tensions surrounding race, ethnicity, class, and debates about "right to the city" can lead to conflict between urban farmers and local residents.

• City governance plays a prominent role in limiting or supporting the development of urban agriculture when conflicts arise.

• Springdale Farm, located in Austin, is commercially zoned and hosts large events, attracting "foodies" and urban farmers.

• In 2012, a malfunctioning compost system at HausBar Farm initiated a heated debate between two groups: urban farmers and urban residents, led by PODER.

• Debate focused on number of events farms could host, particularly those not commercially zoned, and on-site processing of animals in a residential neighborhood.

• PODER argued against urban farming activities in a residential area, citing increased traffic, noise, and reduced quality of life.

• Urban farmers countered that their farms added value, offering fresh, local food, community spaces, and educational opportunities.

• Between 2012 and 2015, Austin City Council made several decisions regarding urban farming: banned animal processing, allowed six large events per year on residentially zoned farms, and granted more events to commercially zoned Springdale Farm.

• In 2018, Springdale Farm was sold to a development group, likely to be redeveloped for housing and retaining part of the land as a farm and on-site restaurant.

• Some urban farms have scaled down their production, affecting local chefs who source fresh produce, and local companies now connect farmers to restaurants.

• Community plays an essential role in the alternative food movement, with civic agriculturalists and their enterprises contributing to both rural and urban communities.

• Critics challenge the exclusivity of many alternative food practices, arguing that they create a paradox by claiming to promote community but operating more as a metaphor than a tangible social action.

• Interpretive communities are groups that shape collective interpretation into collective memory and influence how individuals understand cultural symbols (Shahzad 2011, Zelizer 1993).

• Examples of interpretive communities include family, peers, teachers, media and technology, religious and political organizations (Shahzad 2011).

• Strong emotional attachment to a community increases its influence on remembering and learning processes (Shahzad 2011).

• Interpretive communities can transform shared beliefs or values into moral or political stances when facing a threat (this paper).

• Two existing interpretive communities in Austin, TX (urban farmers and their supporters, and East Austin community activists) transformed into coalesced communities during a contentious urban farm debate (this paper).

• Coalesced communities form due to a perceived threat and come together around core values (this paper).

• Research for this paper was conducted through interviews with various individuals involved in the Austin urban farm debate between 2012 and 2015.

• Interviewees included urban farmers, community activists, city government employees, neighborhood association representatives, food-related business owners, and food-related non-profit members (26 interviews total).

• The study focused on competing understandings of "community" in the context of the urban farm zoning debates.

• Recruitment for the study included contacting individuals mentioned in local newspaper editorials and using a snowballing technique to find additional participants.

• Interviewees represented various racial backgrounds, including White, African American, and Hispanic/Latino.

• Maria Garcia, an East Austin resident, distinguishes between "new neighbors" and "colonizers" in the community

• New neighbors are those who move in, fix up their houses, join the neighborhood association, and become involved in the community

• Colonizers are those who build large McMansions, put up gates, and disrupt the neighborhood culture with their goal of gentrification

• Urban farmers can fit into both categories depending on their intentions and impact on the community

• Maria Garcia sees farmers who prioritize profit over community involvement as colonizers, contributing to gentrification

• Seth Wills, an East Austin activist, highlights the limitation of coalesced communities being oversimplified in media depictions

• Juan Garcia, a PODER affiliate, emphasizes that farming itself is not the problem, but rather the changes around it that cause friction between long-time residents and newcomers

• East Austin is rapidly developing, with the entertainment scene glorifying conspicuous leisure, causing concerns for long-time residents

• Large events at urban farms create commotion in residential neighborhoods, with loud music, crowded street parking, and large quantities of alcohol consumption by guests

• Some urban farms are seen as good neighbors, while others are perceived as bad neighbors based on their actions and impact on the community.

Explore the concepts and implications of community building in the Alternative Food Movement. Learn about the vague definitions of community and the benefits gained by community members through implementing alternative food projects.