Promising sustainable foods: Entrepreneurial visions of sustainable food futures.

This chapter examines visions for sustainable food futures with a specific focus on entrepreneurial solutions proposed by agricultural and food start-ups. Proponents of this current technology-focused wave of food entrepreneurship claim that their ‘solutions in the making’ contribute to a sustainable food future; these claims resemble those made by alternative food networks. The chapter explores three Swiss food start-ups that have each developed novel means of food production and consumption, including indoor agriculture and insect-based foods. Based on analysis of each start-up’s website, and supplemented by interviews and short field visits, the chapter considers how the start-ups propose to contribute to a sustainable food future, and the extent to which each draws on and ‘mainstreams’ alternative food networks’ ambitions and goals. The analysis reveals that, rather than signalling the adoption of alternative food networks’ goals, food start-ups are contributing to the entrepreneurial redefinition of what constitutes ‘sustainable food’ and how this can be achieved. These processes of ongoing redefinition and their implications have the potential to shape collective ideas of how (best) to achieve food security.