Domestic Food Production in Quebec: From Archetypal to Pluriversal Gardens
This article offers an analysis of the form and functions of kitchen gardens, the activities and interactions that take place there, and the meanings they hold for their protagonists. Laid out on private land adjoining a main residence, these vegetable gardens reveal a certain way of being in the world and testify to the transformations that have taken place in home gardening in recent decades. An ethnographic survey conducted in the Quebec region revealed the existence of two models of vegetable gardens: the 20th century archetype and the pluriversal garden. The article explores the aesthetic and productive dimensions of these gardens, the particular relationship to nature and non-humans that characterizes them, as well as the main vectors of the moral economy of which they are the expression. If they constitute a source of fresh food, these vegetable gardens are also the symbol of criticisms addressed to the conventional food system and to the consumer society.