Abstract

Based on the preliminary results of an exploratory study carried out with «alternative» Third Sector organizations in the city of Barcelona and its Metropolitan Area, this paper analyses the possibilities and challenges confronting such entities to transform the practices included in the actual model of food assistance, in a political and economic context where the provision of food is becoming an issue. The article is based on the outcomes of an ongoing qualitative study on alternative practices and other related interventions for the social-communitarian transformation of food vulnerabilities in Barcelona. Four semi-structured interviews were held, and a debate forum was organized with professionals in the field and participants in projects managed by Third Sector organizations. Firstly, we deal with the European context of multi-crisis, particularly in Spain and Barcelona, its impacts on food precarization, and the food assistance model. The results are analysed in connection with three axes: participation; partnership and funding; and the questioning of the food assistance model. The article is part of the ongoing discussion on possible changes in the system of food assistance, on food precarity, and on local, alternative responses to it in the context of eco social transition