The Diversity of Organic Box Schemes in Europe—An Exploratory Study in Four Countries

Susanne Kummer,Rebecka Milestad

doi:10.3390/su12072734

Abstract

Box schemes provide an opportunity to scale up local organic food systems by aggregating products from multiple producers and efficiently delivering them to consumers. However, there is limited knowledge about the overall organic box scheme landscape and how it develops. This article explores organic box schemes in four European countries and thus contributes by comparing box schemes of different sizes in different geographical and organisational contexts. Survey results from 44 box schemes were used to analyse box schemes in relation to size and growth, organisation, communication with customers, delivery modes, distances travelled by produce and boxes, and values adhered to. Although the surveyed box schemes differed in size and organisation, similarities between box schemes were found in many aspects. For example, most surveyed box schemes had grown considerably since their start, and wished to grow further, and they all rated certain values as important. A tendency for larger box schemes to offer more imported produce, to have operated for a longer time, and to use social media for advertising more often was found. Despite the heterogeneity of the box schemes in the survey, we conclude that box schemes are a useful category to explore in the sustainability transition of food systems.

Highlights

Local organic food systems have grown in popularity and profusion over the last few years, their rationale often being the need to transform our food system from a non-sustainable one into a sustainable one [1]
Apart from providing more sustainable food, local food systems may contribute to food justice by offering healthy food for local communities [4], especially when they allow for democratic participation in food systems and set up new relationships that avoid social inequity [5]
The contribution of this study is the comparative approach on organic box schemes and the discussion about box schemes as an analytical category

Summary

Introduction

Local organic food systems have grown in popularity and profusion over the last few years, their rationale often being the need to transform our food system from a non-sustainable one into a sustainable one [1]. Local food value chains are a lot about cutting out the middlemen and creating a direct exchange between food producers and consumers [3,6,7]. This means impairments to the potential of scaling up and out—only if sustainable systems are scaled up can they challenge the dominant regime [8]. This is important, as scaling up bears the danger of conventionalisation and assimilation into the dominant neoliberal food system [9]

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Discussion

Conclusion