Reaching goals for organic food in Finland: which changes should occur in the food chain?

Abstract

This article presents a newly developed model of the Finnish food chain and suggests changes to enable the government goals for organic food and its production to be reached, as well as to better answer consumer demands for organic food. The current food chain causes negative externalities and that creates the urgent need for remodelling the food chain activity. The approach is taken by proposing an alternative Activity theory (AT) framework model to be applied into the Finnish food chain supported by the theory from the Economy of Common Good (ECG) and Co-Creation (CC), and tools derived from these approaches. It is proposed that activity of the food chain actors be at the food chain level, including consumers, and to enable fairer division of power and interaction with the legislative processes. Sustainability and common good values are integrated into the rules for activity, and adapted to the tools for the activity, e.g. more environmental friendly agriculture needs new farming methods, the limited use of food additives in organic food needs new processing methods. The appropriate tools should make possible the sustainable activity from the production to the consumption and simultaneously enable the increase of volume and market share of organic production. Customer and consumer preferences regarding sustainable and organic produce are proposed to increase the market share of sustainability-conscious companies, generating financial profit and decreasing negative externalities in the food chain. Government interaction is needed through legislation, taxation and information. This approach is being proposed in order to open the path of overall change towards holistic implementation of mutually agreed principles of sustainability to the Finnish food chain and, in parallel, to open a path for certified organic production to flourish.