Geographies of Food Sharing. An Exploratory Study

The sharing economy is a novel phenomenon used to define a universe of practices/initiatives and collaborative consumption economy based on sharing. Using the internet, collaborative consumption includes product service systems in which consumers pay a fee for sharing a given resource, but it also includes redistribution markets. Sharing is often confused with gift giving and commodity exchange and because sharing is commonplace, it is often taken for granted (Belk, 2010). Beyond new ideas, users tend to be motivated by economic, environmental and social factors. This paper discusses food sharing, which clearly comes under the collaborative consumption model that is based on sharing. Following an overview of the sharing economy, the paper examines food-sharing platforms that are taking the social activity of dining to new levels to study the strategic choices made. By adopting a qualitative case study approach, it provides a starting point for future studies.