State politics and food alternatives in the post-socialist food regime in Czechia

The contemporary food regime, driven by the capitalist market and nation states, is not sustainable. Different alternative food initiatives counteract its unsustainable character. Yet, what kind of food alternatives thrive in this actual market-state nexus constellation defining the food regime has become a site of contestation and depends on state politics. This article explores the role of state politics in relation to food alternatives in the post-socialist food regime in Czechia. In line with food regime approaches and drawing on critical state theory understanding of the state as a contested terrain, we use qualitative expert interviews and document analyses to identify three different political projects that support different kinds of food alternatives. Both, a liberal project driving for an international market economy and a nationalist project with its own major capital, foster food alternatives as part of “food from nowhere” in the current food regime, i.e., industrial world agriculture, and “food from here”, i.e., regional food. The alternative project builds initiatives in the sense of “food from somewhere” following agroecological principles and fostering rural development. Major conflicts are centered around the issues of agricultural subsidies favoring large-scale agricultural enterprises and transnational retail chains offering consumers in Czechia cheap and convenient food. Support from state politics is needed to make agroecological food alternatives in the sense of “food from somewhere” thrive. • This contribution examines different food alternatives in Czechia. • It combines food regime with critical state theory to analyze Czech food politics. • Liberal and nationalist actors support agro-industrial food alternatives. • Agroecological alternatives fostering rural development lack state support. • Major conflicts concern subsidies and retail chains.