Challenging Food Narratives: A Discourse Analysis of Agro-Food Representations in a Belgian Alternative Media

Derinöz, Sabri
(2025) 4th Conference on Food and Communication “Food for All: Media, Communication and Food Democracy” — Location: University of Lille (10.September.2025)

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Food narratives play a central role in shaping public perceptions of food systems, sustainability, and the agro-food industry. Contesting the general framing of food in the media, mostly focused on lifestyle with little perspectives on sustainability (Brüggemann et al., 2024), some “alternative media” (Atton, 2019; Ihlebæk & Figenschou, 2024; Peeters & Maeseele, 2023) seek to challenge dominant discourses by offering critical and transformative perspectives on food-related issues. This communication examines the food-related narratives constructed in an alternative francophone Belgian media outlet specializing in agro-food issues. Through a mixed-method approach of statistical textual analysis and qualitative discourse analysis (Derinöz, 2023), this research identifies the dominant framings of food and the food industry within the outlet’s content. It addresses two key questions: (1) What are the recurring narratives about food systems, sustainability, and the agro-food industry in this media outlet? (2) Do these narratives align with the media’s editorial positioning and its ambition to foster public debate? The corpus is retrieved of 18 months of printed publications (307 637 words), during the years 2023-2024. Findings reveal three central discursive frames: (1) a systemic critique of industrial agro-food models, highlighting issues of economic power, environmental degradation, and corporate influence; (2) the promotion of alternative, localized, and community-based food systems, emphasizing sustainability, ethical consumption, and agroecology; and (3) the personalization of food-related issues through storytelling and lived experiences, positioning individuals and grassroots initiatives. These narratives seem to contribute to a counter-hegemonic discourse on food, challenging several perspectives on food production and promoting transparency, sustainability, and civic engagement. By examining how alternative media construct and disseminate food narratives, this research provides insights into the role of independent journalism in shaping public debates about food systems and the challenges of maintaining editorial coherence in the pursuit of social transformation.
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Derinöz, S. (2025). Challenging Food Narratives: A Discourse Analysis of Agro-Food Representations in a Belgian Alternative Media. 4th Conference on Food and Communication “Food for All: Media, Communication and Food Democracy”, University of Lille. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/260149