Alternative Agri-food Networks Research Articles

Intellectual Structure of the Scientific Production on Farmers' Markets and Local Agri-Food Systems: An Analysis in the Light of Co-Citations

This paper presents the structure of scientific production that provides the basis for studies on farmers' markets and local agri-food systems through co-citation analysis. The method used was exploratory, and the data for the analysis consisted of scientific articles retrieved from the Web of Science database. The results revealed that studies on this topic began in 1944, although only from 2000 there was a significant increase in research. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) reveals that the structure of scientific production on farmers' markets and local agri-food systems is addressed in 72.24% by 84 articles. The result of EFA was grouped into five dimensions: the fundamental definitions of alternative local food economies, the characteristics of local food systems, the diversity of alternative food networks, the search for innovative practices and management improvements in alternative local agri-food networks, and the locus of the dynamics of alternative agri-food networks where the consumer-producer relationship is prioritized. This study reinforces the need for further research to seek an understanding of the vital role of farmers' markets and local agri-food systems in society. Future research is recommended to explore the ways and possibilities for producer-consumer rapprochement in the short-circuit food supply chain in farmers' markets. Keywords: Farmers’ market; Local agri-food systems; Co-citation analysis.

Mapping lock-ins and enabling environments for agri-food sustainability transitions in Europe

European agri-food systems must overcome structural lock-ins to achieve more sustainable modes of production and consumption. Yet European regions are highly diverse, and we lack understanding of how different regional characteristics may enable or inhibit sustainability transitions. This hinders the development of context-tailored governance strategies. In this paper, we identify and apply sets of spatial indicators to map the regional potentials for agri-food transitions. We first analyse the strength of lock-in to the incumbent agro-industrial paradigm. We then map the enabling environments for two alternative agri-food networks—multifunctional value chains and civic food networks—that each embed distinct social–ecological qualities of agriculture and food. Results demonstrate a large spatial diversity in transition potential, with stronger lock-ins throughout North and Western Europe and stronger enabling environments for agri-food transitions in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Southwest Germany. We find that lock-ins are strongest in livestock-dominated regions and are associated with higher GHG emissions and excess nitrogen levels. Our study demonstrates the need for coordinated public policies that (1) leverage region-specific transition potentials and (2) enable complementary innovations in market-based and community-led networks.

Agroecology as a Political and Social Dimension in Urban Agriculture in Mar del Plata

From the political and social dimension of Agroecology, this paper aims to analyze the strategies of social movements that question and seek to introduce changes in agri-food systems. To this end, three collective experiences that contribute to the supply of agroecological vegetables in the context of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Mar del Plata, southeast of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, were addressed. A first approach reveals the importance of using the category of alternative agrifood networks to make visible how the links between producers, distributors, consumers, and other key actors are reconfigured to meet the emerging demands towards socially equitable, sustainable, and local agrifood systems. In this framework, the key role of the social movements that claim and promote agroecology is evident, insofar as they are supported by intersectoral networks, which, when combined, react more quickly than governments, showing a high degree of resilience. However, there are still challenges to be managed, associated with marketing, transport, or access to land, which require structural and/or comprehensive policy responses.

Enriching the intersection of care ethics and alternative agri-food networks in rural-urban Taiwan

Keywords: Affective turnalternative agri-food networksback-to-the-land women migrantsbody experiencecare ethicsfeminist political ecology

Consumer renaissance in Alternative Agri-Food Networks between collective action and co-production

In recent years, a dramatic increase in Alternative Agri-Food Networks (AAFNs) has been interpreted by experts of the sector as triggered by innovative food supply chains capable to reconnect producers with consumers. Simultaneously, the worldwide growth of consumers’ initiatives towards AAFNs is reducing the distance with producers shortening the supply chain and enhancing its value added. Examples of these consumers’ experiences have been reported in Japan, Europe, the USA, and Canada, and differ according to the degree of participants’ commitment to the logistics and the management of the initiatives. In general terms, these experiences could represent instances of co-production practices involving thousands of citizens who are seeking quality, sustainable, healthy, and ethical products and services reducing the uncertainty of food credence attributes. In this framework, the overall objective of this paper is to contribute to the scanty literature on food associations and cooperatives co-producing private goods with citizens contributing to marketing services such as procurement, storage, pricing, and quality assurance. Specifically, the focus is on the experience of Camilla, a food consumption cooperative that recently established an outlet to stock and sell food and non-food quality goods in Bologna (Italy). Camilla is the first Italian experience of a shop self-managed by its customers - who are also the owners - who practice critical consumption by supplying organic products at fair and sustainable prices while promoting small local productions as well as Fair Trade productions. A deep, participatory, and immersive ethnographic project was carried out between January and October 2019 to understand the functioning, the motivations and the drivers underpinning the process of citizens’ self-organisation in the domain of the food sector. Results provide useful insights on the way in which these innovative AAFNs are organised and on the reasons pushing people to join these initiatives. Key questions emerging from outcomes of the Camilla case study are discussed from an empirical and theoretical point of view.

Intellectual structure of scientific production on farmers’ markets and local agri-food systems: an analysis based on co-citations

This paper presents the structure of scientific production that provides the basis for studies on farmers' markets and local agri-food systems through co-citation analysis. The method used was exploratory, and the data for the analysis consisted of scientific articles retrieved from the Web of Science database. The results revealed that studies on this topic began in 1944, although only from 2000 there was a significant increase in research. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) reveals that the structure of scientific production on farmers' markets and local agri-food systems is addressed in 72.24% by 84 articles. The result of EFA was grouped into five dimensions: the fundamental definitions of alternative local food economies, the characteristics of local food systems, the diversity of alternative food networks, the search for innovative practices and management improvements in alternative local agri-food networks, and the locus of the dynamics of alternative agri-food networks where the consumer-producer relationship is prioritized. This study reinforces the need for further research to seek an understanding of the vital role of farmers' markets and local agri-food systems in society. Future research is recommended to explore the ways and possibilities for producer-consumer rapprochement in the short-circuit food supply chain in farmers' markets.

Spaces of Innovation and Women Rural Entrepreneurship in Italy

This paper deals with “gendering innovation”, with the purpose of exploring the entrepreneurial spaces of innovation among Italian farms managed by women. More precisely, the hypothesis is that entrepre-neurial orientation has to be considered the engine of innovation adoption in different rural contexts, by creating new spaces for innovation. The research is grounded on primary sources using a questionnaire administered to a sample of women farmers in all regions of Italy, with the purpose of investigating complex dimensions behind the decision of innovation uptake, with a special focus on the relevance of entrepreneurial orientation. Empirical analysis lets different “worlds of female innovation” to emerge, which are grounded on both conventional and alternative agrifood networks. Taking on the perspective of entrepreneurial spaces of innovation implies to design a diversified set of policy action with the purpose of affecting these entrepreneurial spaces. This is particularly urgent in the perspective of gender main-streaming of rural development policies of the European Union.

Alternative Agri-Food Networks and Their Role in Re-Localization of Food and Creation of Shared Value: The Case of the Leuven Food Hub

Alternative Agri-Food Networks (AAFNs) are emerging as unconventional models of aggregation, distribution and marketing of food products, as opposed to the prevailing industrialized agri-food system. Within these alternative chains, different types of organizations such as food hubs are promoting a reconnection between producers and consumers as well as a fair distribution of social and economic value throughout the food supply chain. The article analyzes the sourcing and distributing practices of a case study, the Leuven Food Hub in Belgium. The research shows the role of the case study in the re-localization of food and the creation of shared value throughout the supply chain, illustrating the importance of transparency, traceability and trust relations. Moreover, it critically analyzes the transformative potential of this type of model to promote broader schemes of sustainable development. It is argued that these initiatives are proving to be highly resilient, especially in times of crisis, such as the one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is highlighted how food hubs can bring incremental change towards more ecologically and socially responsible food systems. However, we outline the tension between scaling up and remaining alternative, short and local and the challenge this poses to the economic viability of the model. Broadly, given the fact that AAFNs are still a recent phenomenon and therefore a research field under construction, this study aims at contributing to scholars and practitioners with empirical evidence of a functioning alternative agrifood network.

Redes agroalimentares alternativas e consumo crítico: o caso das feiras orgânicas de Porto Alegre

As quatro últimas décadas coincidem com a aparição do que se convencionou chamar “redes agroalimentares alternativas”. Os inúmeros escândalos, a incerteza generalizada e a busca por alimentos mais saudáveis figuram em destaque, dentro de um movimento mais amplo denominado “turn of quality”, onde a ideia de qualidade ultrapassa os atributos estritos e tangíveis do produto. As feiras orgânicas de Porto Alegre se inserem dentro das transformações que incidem sobre o mundo da alimentação em geral. O foco do estudo é elucidar as circunstâncias que contribuíram para o seu surgimento, assim como as mutações que esse sistema local de abastecimento experimenta desde o seu surgimento. A pesquisa busca mostrar que as feiras orgânicas consistem num espaço social singular onde operam muito mais do que operações de compra e venda de alimentos. Não obstante, há desafios em relação ao futuro, especialmente os desdobramentos decorrentes do incremento da demanda e risco de convencionalização.

Agencing an innovative territorial trade scheme between crop and livestock farming: the contributions of the sociology of market agencements to alternative agri-food network analysis

The aim of this article is to show the relevance of the sociology of market agencements (an offshoot of actor–network theory) for studying the creation of alternative agri-food networks. The authors start with their finding that most research into alternative agri-food networks takes a strictly informative, cursory look at the conditions under which these networks are gradually created. They then explain how the sociology of market agencements analyzes the construction of innovative markets and how it can be used in agri-food studies. The relevance of this theoretical frame is shown based on an experiment aimed at creating a local trade scheme between manure from livestock farms and alfalfa grown by grain farmers. By using the concepts of the sociology of market agencements, the authors reveal the operations that are required to create an alternative agri-food network and underscore the difficulties that attend each one of these operations. This enables them to see the phenomena of lock-ins and sociotechnical transition in a new light.

Measuring the Economic Impact of Farmers’ Markets on Local Economies in the Basque Country

Farmers’ markets are a traditional exchange space for local peasants, around which alternative agri-food networks (AFNs) are being built on a local scale. These AFNs seek to establish quality and trust-based equitable relationships within value chains. The main objective of this paper is to measure the economic impact of 10 farmers’ markets on the local economy in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa (Northern Spain). To calculate the degree of impact, we use the tools of input-output analysis, adapting the SEED & NEED & FEED (Sticky Economic Evaluation Device & Neighborhood Exchange Evaluation Device & Food Environment Evaluation Device) approach to the specific context of the Basque Country. The results obtained give an economic value of the impact of these marketing spaces, including direct and indirect effects on other economic sectors. Furthermore, the results show that markets present other factors, not just economic, that add value for both producers and consumers, as well as for the local economy.

A Theory of Planned behaviour perspective for investigating the role of trust in consumer purchasing decision related to short food supply chains

To better understand the success and the growing number of Short Food Supply Chains in Italy, this study investigates consumer motivations and behaviours with regard to these alternative agri-food networks through an extended model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). In particular, the paper focuses on the role of consumer trust towards purchasing at short chains, as well as the role of consumer rural residence and fair-trade purchasing preference, in addition to common TPB variables. To this purpose, an online survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 260 consumers in Italy. Structural equation modelling confirmed the role of trust as a direct antecedent of consumer intention to purchase food at short chains, as well as the best-supported attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control in the standard TPB model. The investigation found that consumer rural residence and fair-trade purchasing habits, in addition to intention and perceived behavioural control, influenced the behaviour. This evidence is interesting in order to suggest further marketing strategies for farmers in the direction of more ethical and trust-related forms of consumption.

An Eco-Egalitarian Solution to the Capitalist Consumer Paradox: Integrating Short Food Chains and Public Market Systems

Presently, alternative agri-food networks are in a renaissance, utilizing an economy of proximity to compete against transnational agri-business and food distributors. While this is positive ecologically and socioeconomically, the overreliance on market mechanisms in short food chains has led to class distinctions in food distribution and consumption. The result has been a capitalist consumer paradox exacerbating inequality in the alternative agri-food networks. To resolve this inequality, we focused on how public policy can leverage state investment in public markets to reduce or overcome the capitalist consumer paradox in short food chains. To clarify our argument, we began by examining the benefits of short food chains in the urban food system. Then, we explained how type of consumption and policy regime effect food access. After this, we utilized Mexico City and New York City’s public market systems as representative of an alternative policy regime and the effects of moving away from state-oriented development. We concluded by describing possible conflicts and complements to the integration of public markets into short urban food chains.

“Local” as an indicator of beef quality: An exploratory study of rural consumers in the southern U.S.

A ’turn’ to quality is frequently associated with the proliferation of alternative agrifood networks and food system localization has been a prominent expression of such efforts. Yet quality is subjective and is influenced by historical, social, and cultural contexts. While there is a strong tradition of studying European consumers’ quality perceptions, less is known about U.S. consumers. Due to increasing consumer interest in local beef, this paper examines U.S. consumer definitions of local beef and how these notions inform consumers’ perceptions of beef quality. This study investigated beef consumers (N=174) at grocery stores across Alabama using face-to-face intercept surveys designed to elicit meanings associated with the term ’local beef’. Content analysis identified five major definition types: geographic, production, knowledge, relational, and sociopolitical. Consumers’ top-of-the mind definitions also provided insight into how and what type of quality inferences consumers made about local beef. Analysis revealed that local beef was perceived as quality cue that was generally tied to a specific geographic area (80.3%). Overall, quality inferences were made about local beef and shipping distances, freshness, type of animal feed, animal treatment, additives, and contributions to the local economy and community.

Creole Hens and Ranga-Ranga: Campesino Foodways and Biocultural Resource-Based Development in the Central Valley of Tarija, Bolivia

Biocultural heritage-based products, including regional specialty foods, are increasingly part of sustainable rural development strategies. While export-oriented biocultural products are often the most visible, we examine the role of campesino gastronomic heritage in the Central Valley of Tarija, Bolivia, as a case study of a local market-centered biocultural resource-based development strategy reflected in an alternative agri-food network. We develop a biocultural sustainability framework to examine this network from ecological, economic and sociocultural perspectives. Data are drawn from interviews (n = 77), surveys (n = 89) and participant observation, with primary and secondary producers of traditional and new products, as well as restaurant owners, market vendors and local consumers. We find that campesino biocultural heritage and the alternative agri-food network surrounding it represent an influential territorial project that underpins many household economies, particularly for women. We conclude that the relatively small investments by local governments to promote campesino gastronomic heritage are having positive ripple effects on small-scale producer livelihoods and on biocultural sustainability. We suggest that further support to increase market access and reduce other barriers to participation in alternative food networks will likely increase the options and benefits available to small-scale producers mobilising campesino gastronomic heritage within the local economy.

Seeing GMOs from a Systems Perspective: The Need for Comparative Cartographies of Agri/Cultures for Sustainability Assessment

Over the past twenty years, agricultural biotechnologies have generated chronically unresolved political controversies. The standard tool of risk assessment has proven to be highly limited in its ability to address the panoply of concerns that exist about these hybrid techno/organisms. It has also failed to account for both the conceptual and material networks of relations agricultural biotechnologies require, create and/or perform. This paper takes as a starting point that agricultural biotechnologies cannot be usefully assessed as isolated technological entities but need to be evaluated within the context of the broader socio-ecological system that they embody and engender. The paper then explores, compares and contrasts some of the methodological tools available for advancing this systems-based perspective. The article concludes by outlining a new synthesis approach of comparative cartographies of agri/cultures generated through multi-sited ethnographic case-studies, which is proposed as a way to generate system maps and enable the comparison of genetically modified (GM) food with both conventional and alternative agri-food networks for sustainability assessment. The paper aims to make a unique theoretical and methodological contribution by advancing a systems-based approach to conceptualising and assessing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and proposing a synthesised methodology for mapping networks of relations across different agri/cultures.

Reflexive Resilience and Community Supported Agriculture: The Case that Emerged from a Place

While some aspects of what has broadly been called alternative agri-food networks (AAFNs) are relatively prominent in Ireland, including farmers' markets, garden plots (or allotments), and the GIY, or the Grow it Yourself home gardening phenomenon, community supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives are still rare in Ireland. One of the few, earliest, and most prominent CSAs in Ireland is the subject matter of this article. This paper first contextualizes the study with some of the relevant literature on AAFNs, including a 'civic turn' in the European literature on AAFNs, toward civic food networks (Renting, Schermer, & Rossi, 2012). Key developments in this literature, including equity, governance, place, and empowerment, are unpacked and demarked as especially important. The studied CSA's organizational restructuring in the face of productivity pressures is examined in detail. While CSAs specifically involve sharing risks and rewards, and while this is described as an acceptable uncertainty, when pushed to its limits the actualized risk of not enough produce became in fact unacceptable for this CSA initiative. The process through which this member-owned and -operated CSA critically self-assessed and restructured in the face of challenges is a core part of what is termed here as a 'reflexive resilience.' The implications of reflexive resilience are then analyzed to draw out research implications. 'Reflexive' refers here to being critically self-aware and willing to change, and then changing. 'Resilience' refers to being prepared for shocks and responding accordingly to said shocks if and when they occur. Taken together, the term 'reflexive resilience' describes a CSA's adaptive awareness. That this reflexive resilience emerged in a member-owned and -operated CSA may make this CSA more a model for communities to use, if the aim is to have a truly civic agriculture (Lyson, 2000) as part of a more civic rural space. Implications for more fruitful interactions between research and practice are also suggested.

Alternative Agri-Food Networks and Short Food Supply Chains: a review of the literature

This paper is a literature review that focuses on the development of AlternativeAgri-Food Networks (aafns) and, in particular, on the development of Short FoodSupply Chains (sfscs). In the first part of the article we give a description of the social-cultural and environmental aspects which define aafns. aafns are generallythought of as a turn from industrialized and standardized systems to the domestic world, where quality is interpreted in terms of food localization, proximity relations,trust, tradition and place, and as a new form of rural development and an instrumentto revitalize rural areas. We verified that mainly two factors mostly influencethe characterization of the alternative food streams: embeddedness and food localization.The concept of embeddedness integrates social, environmental and health issues,while re-localization defines the tendency to build networks based on productionand consumption of food and the development of a local culture, basedon the valuation of food origin, community traditions and food habits. The secondpart of the paper is focused on the description of sfscs, as Farmers’ Markets or CommunitySupported Agriculture, which aim at reducing the number of transactionsalong the food supply chain and the distance between the production and consumptionof food products. The development of sfscs may help to provide various benefitssupport of the economy, the strengthening of relations between consumersand their food traditions, the supply of fresher food products in comparison to conventionalfood networks, the re-valuation of the small-scale farmer’s role in the foodsystems, the use of sustainable production methods and the reduction of co2 emissions.This supposition has been contradicted by several recent pieces of research,and we have pointed out further criticisms of sfscs, such as the costs farmers have tobear when selling directly to the public. The article ends by setting out our considerationsregarding the development of aafns and sfscs and offers some suggestions,for starting points for future research.

Classifying short agrifood supply chains under a knowledge and social learning perspective

In the general movement toward agrifood market restructuring, a form of collaboration is represented by alternative agrifood networks (AAFNs). The power and competitive advantage of AAFNs depend on continuous interactions among producers and consumers through learning cycles that allow producers to learn faster and better. This paper explores short agrifood supply chains (SAFSCs), a particular form of AAFNs characterized by minimizing connections between the world of agrifood production and consumption, fostering social interactions between people, and boosting innovation processes. In particular, our contribution is to explore the strong connections between organizational choices, evident in network configuration and collaboration level, and ways in which social capital is deployed in SAFSCs initiatives. We develop an SAFSC classification and analysis framework that takes into account social capital dimensions and levels of collaboration within the main groups of SAFSC partners. The rationale is to provide a conceptual basis for understanding the effects of reinforced collaboration on social growth and organizational performances of SAFSCs.

Alternative agrifood networks in a regional area: a case study

An alternative agrifood network (AAFN) can be regarded as a local food system that is purposely attempted to put into practice political–ethical concerns staying out of and creatively reshaping conventional agrifood chains. Under social, knowledge and learning perspectives, we discuss some issues for a regional agrifood breeding environment that supports configurations of many different AAFNs as well as manages knowledge flows within a local community in an agrifood regional area. Moreover, we present challenges, constraints, and organisational solutions for AAFNs, based on a case study we conducted in the District of High Quality Productions in Sibari, (Calabria, Italy).