Benefitting from the global, protecting the local: The nested markets of wild product trade

The paper asks two research questions: what aspects have facilitated the shift from foraging for wild blueberries as a subsistence activity associated with cultural heritage, to the globally integrated market sector it is today, and what properties of the blueberry market and the associated structural and political context have allowed local communities to maintain ownership over wild products? The concept of nested markets is used to explain those attributes characterising relations between stakeholders, which strengthen local level actors and thus balance out the power relations within the supply chain. This also provides ways to defend, maintain and strengthen an agrarian lifestyle.