The horizons of change: between past memories and future imaginations in sustainable food transitions

Abstract

This article investigates Dutch dairy farmers' perception of their past, present and future to shed light on their role in sustainable transitions. We dissect how change is experienced by considering their experiences with the recent Dutch environmental regulations and the emergence of novel food technologies. We find that the ways that farmers perceive change and act on it are impacted by both the memories of farming tradition and related identity, and expectations towards their own future and their sector.

We define three temporal points that respond to both literature and empirical work. Qualitatively engaging with interviews, site visits and intergenerational discussions, we argue that making entanglements explicit amid tensions requires recognizing Horizons of Memory and Horizons of Expectations. This allows paving the way for including farmers in Horizons of Imagination. We explain how those three horizons help give an empirical and normative account of change in the context of uncertainty and transformation.

Finally, we discuss the dairy farmers' perspective on alternative kinds of milk and the adoption of new food technologies (such as Precision Fermentation). A sustainable transition in food systems should prioritize the inclusion of different actors, also giving place to their temporalities in order to construct inclusive futures.