Producer-consumer Relationships Research Articles

Investigating the use of network analysis metrics to benchmark Industrial Symbiosis development

Circular economy (CE) aims to reduce natural resource consumption, waste generation, and related detrimental environmental, social, and economic impacts by keeping valuable materials circulating in the economy. Industrial Symbiosis (IS) contributes to CE through byproduct-exchange partnerships between firms, reducing raw material use, emissions, and waste generation, while promoting the economic growth of partner firms. However, most IS projects fail in the early stages and do not reap the full sustainability benefits of IS. A significant reason for the failure of early-stage IS projects is the lack of knowledge regarding the strategic organization of IS networks. Quantifying IS network organization and operational characteristics and benchmarking IS development can address this challenge, and enable knowledge transfer regarding IS network organization from mature IS networks to guide the advancement of new IS projects. This investigation tests multiple Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) and Social Network Analysis (SNA) metrics using three real-world IS case studies, as potential IS benchmarking tools. The results of the investigation show that ENA and SNA metrics can be used to compare IS networks and identify differences in the following characteristics: Partnership prevalence, producer–consumer relationships, linkage distribution, resource utilization, effect of indirect firm relationships, network cohesion, and network centralization. The values of the multiple network analysis metrics are found to be aligned with the development time of the IS networks and the qualitative markers of IS development stages as identified in the literature. For example, the analysis of producer–consumer relationships indicated that more than 50% of the consumer firms in the early stage IS networks had only one supplier partnership compared to less than 30% of the firms in the most mature IS network. Similarly, the analysis of network cohesion showed that the early-stage IS networks had (on average) five different isolated groups of firms compared to one cohesive group of firms in the more mature IS networks. This investigation demonstrates that network analysis of IS projects only requires anonymized and non-proprietary data, and identifies data-collection and modeling standards needed to develop an IS benchmarking framework using network analysis. The promising results of this investigation motivate future work into these standardization needs and the development of IS benchmarks using network analysis.

Theoretical Foundations of the Service Sector Functioning at the Present Stage

Introduction. The modern context of a practical shift towards the service sector requires to study it from a theoretical perspective. Despite a sufficient number of publications on the topic of services, many authors do not provide corresponding grounds when identifying classification groups of services. This article focuses on the specific aspects of clarifying the concept of "service", essential classification of services and functions. Materials and Methods. The theoretical basis of the research included articles from peer-reviewed journals and monographs on the topic under study. A wide range of general scientific methods was applied in the research, including analysis and synthesis, abstract-logical, systemic analysis and others. Results. Characteristics of material and immaterial services were provided in comparison, which allows for a better emphasis on the features of their provision and consumption. This approach takes into account the specifics of consumers and their role in the process, as well as the qualifications of the personnel when planning activities in the service sector. Important issues of service compatibility and service function allocation are addressed. The study highlights the need to include education and culture in the value-oriented function of services. Due to the inability of consumers to clearly express their social and spiritual needs, the authors argue for the importance and tasks of service industry workers to assist clients in forming their essential needs. Conclusions. The article compares the most important characteristics of service differentiation based on various classifications, including its specificity, evaluation, producers, producer-consumer relationships, and production technology.

Building relationships back into the food system: addressing food insecurity and food well-being

IntroductionFailures of the current food system sit at the core of the multitude of crises by being the root framework for both consumption choices and food production. Low-income households are disproportionately affected by these failures, impacting their food security and access to healthy and sustainable foods. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a bottom-up response towards an agri-food system transformation by providing an alternative food system based on agroecologically grown food that is sold locally and rooted in social values. Alongside other food citizenship movements and alternative food networks (AFN), CSAs are driven by the vision to develop a democratic, socially and economically just, and environmentally sustainable food system. Yet, low-income households are underrepresented in the CSA community.MethodOur paper presents findings from a co-produced intervention between the research team, four CSA farms based in Wales, United Kingdom and two food aid partners that sought to identify ways to improve the accessibility of CSA memberships for food-insecure households. Thirty-eight households received a weekly veg bag for a period of 2–4 months. We interviewed 16 household members at the project start and end of the harvest season. Building on the food well-being framework, we investigate impacts of a CSA membership on food-insecure households.ResultsWe found that CSA membership holistically improves food well-being, through strengthening producer-consumer relationships, increasing availability of healthy foods, helping people to care for their own and their families well-being, and building place-based food capability and literacy.DiscussionThis paper supports wider narratives that call for systematically prioritizing interventions that promote overall food well-being, which can lead to sustainable and just food systems with positive outcomes for financially excluded, food insecure households in localized AFNs.

Engagement with Urban Soils Part I: Applying Maya Soil Connectivity Practices to Intergenerational Planning for Urban Sustainability

Urban soil security depends on the means and social practices that enable multiple generations to maintain and improve soil resources. Soils are pivotal to urban sustainability yet seem absent from international planning advisories for sustainable urban development. Subsuming soils under broad and unspecific categories (ecosystem, environment, land, etc.) leaves soil interests indeterminate and largely ignored in urban planning. The absence of soils in sustainable urban planning advice permits planning guidelines that cause increasing land-use conversions which seal soils. Urban patterns of sealed and distanced soils, preventing access to and direct enjoyment of soil benefits, generate disengagement from soils. Despite fierce land-use competition, urban areas offer the greatest potential for soil connectivity exactly because people concentrate there. Based on previous work we accept that everyday opportunities to encounter and directly engage with soils in Pre-Columbian lowland Maya urban life rendered soil connectivity commonplace. Here, we review how the two original routes towards soil connectivity, knowledge exchange and producer–consumer relationships, reinforced and supported regular soil engagement in Maya urban practice. We frame our interpretation of Maya cultural values and urban practices in terms of leading insights from environmental psychology on pro-environmental behaviour and stakeholder attitudes and the principles of building resilience. This allows us to recognise that Maya urban soil connectivity functions thanks to the structural involvement of the largest societal stakeholder group, while imparting soil knowledge is entangled in shared socio-cultural activities rather than a task for a minority of soil specialists. The emerging Maya model for a socially engaged soil-aware urban society combines bottom-up practices and top-down social–ecological cultural values to increase resilience, to diminish reliance on long-distance supply chains, and to maintain productive human–environment relationships over the long term. As such it becomes a primary task for urban planning advice and guidelines to enable and support a widely shared and enduring culture of soil care. Urban sustainable development may only be successful if underpinned by a broadly carried increase in soil knowledge and awareness of intergenerational soil dependency.

Cultural practices as a form of active cultural consumption

This paper focuses on the influence of passive and active cultural practices on the processes of inculturation and socialization. Despite the various attention to cultural practices (and cultural consumption), there are a number of different interpretations, which are based on the basic perception of the interaction of the cultural producer with the consumer, and, accordingly, the proactive involvement of the consumer in the cultural life. The article examines the hypotheses of cultural practices that form the modern thesaurus of cultural theory, using relatively recent data on cultural practices in Ukraine. The basis of the conceptualization of cultural practices in the study is the perception of cultural producer-consumer relations as a system of access to resources and goods, where cultural consumption is determined by access to cultural goods, and the level of involvement (participation) in cultural consumption is distinguished as active and passive. Particular attention in the research is paid to the functions of cultural practices, in particular as a potential tool for revitalizing the socio-cultural and economic life of cities. The significance of the self-organizing potential of cultural practices, in our opinion, is most clearly traced in the studies of urbanists and social geographers, whose theoretical and practical theses indirectly deduce how — even if hypothetically — cultural consumption and cultural practices affect changes in society, and how society ultimately changes cultural practices.

Do sustainable food system innovations foster inclusiveness and social cohesion? A comparative study

IntroductionExisting food systems are not only responsible for severe environmental damage, but also face pressing social challenges, with people having uneven access to safe and healthy food, good working conditions, and political participation. These socio-ethical aspects play a key role in successful food transitions. So far, aspects of social cohesion and inclusiveness within social food innovations have rarely been analyzed in more depth. Many social innovations have emerged over the last few decades, such as land cooperatives, farm leasing models, community-supported agriculture, or citizen shareholder companies. Expectations towards these financing models vary from facilitating more investment in a sustainable and socially responsible agri-food sector and a shift towards more local food to the creation of transparent relationships between food producers and consumers.ObjectivesIt is against this backdrop that this paper compares three different food innovations—citizen shareholder companies, community-supported agriculture, and food co-ops—regarding their inclusiveness, the degree of member involvement, and the quality of experienced connectedness.MethodsEmpirically, this paper draws on quantitative and qualitative data, including an online survey, two focus group discussions, and a broad literature search.ResultsFindings reveal that all food innovations show a rather low level of inclusiveness, although efforts are being made to overcome barriers to access. Food innovations generate social cohesion between different actors along the value-added chain, which is constituted differently in a more service-oriented versus a community-oriented model.DiscussionOverall, these innovations provide key momentum towards the dominant food regime by rewarding producers for sustainable practices, establishing stronger producer–consumer relationships, and motivating consumers to assume shared responsibility. Based on the different approaches adopted, we consider the food innovations as complementary for food system transitions.

Young Consumer Conformity and Identity Amplified by Social Media: Marketing Applications

As social media and the internet become integral to producer-consumer relations, it is necessary to understand how to properly use these tools to maximize consumer acquisition. Companies and customers must be aware of how psychological factors influence consumer decision-making to improve marketing tactics. The author examines the need for belonging that young consumers face in the technological world and the conforming influences that impact young consumer decisions. The phrasing of product and sales promotions changes psychological reactions, thus emphasizing the need for careful phrasing during campaigns to convey the right messages. Young consumer identity formation is recognized as a variable in consumer behavior. Despite studies arguing that identity expression has a limited influence on consumer behavior, the author recommends companies apply it in business and marketing strategies. Two forms of social media marketing, word-of-mouth marketing and celebrity marketing, are compared by their appeal to young consumers’ belonging and identity needs. A discussion on marketing strategies implements results from the studies on the influence of conformity, identity, and social media on consumer behavior. The author applies word-of-mouth marketing successful qualities to the traditional celebrity/social media influencer marketing deals to incorporate psychological influences of trust and genuineness while maintaining the pressures to belong and form an identity. The paper finds that marketing strategies should incorporate identity expression and formation features, as well as taking the expressive elements and targeted narratives from word-of-mouth marketing and implementing them into celebrity endorsements to create an honest, genuine campaign that attracts young consumers.

Alternative Food Networks in Latin America—exploring PGS (Participatory Guarantee Systems) markets and their consumers: a cross-country comparison

Alternative food networks (AFN) are argued to provide platforms to re-socialize and re-spacealize food, establish and contribute to democratic participation in local food chains, and foster producer–consumer relations and trust. As one of the most recent examples of AFN, Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) have gained notable traction in attempting to redefine consumer-producer relations in the organic value chain. The participation of stakeholders, such as consumers, has been a key element theoretically differentiating PGS from other organic verification systems. While research on farmer participation in PGS is attracting interest, consumer participation is still widely overlooked. Using a mixed methods approach, this paper describes five PGS markets in Mexico, Chile and Bolivia. A survey was conducted with consumers in the PGS markets to explore their awareness of the PGS, how consumers participate in the PGS, and their level of trust in the respective PGS and its certified products. Results showed a low level of awareness of PGS among market consumers, few participation possibilities, and minimal consumer participation overall. Nevertheless, trust in organic quality was generally high. Consumers primarily relied on the direct relationship with producers and the PGS market itself as sources of trust. These results provide novel insight into PGS consumer-market interactions, and contribute to discussions concerning social embeddedness, awareness and participation within AFN.

USAHA PERTANIAN ORGANIK BERBASIS CSA (COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE) (STUDI KASUS DI “SENI TANI”, KOTA BANDUNG, INDONESIA)

Organic vegetables that are mostly consumed by the community in the midst of the rapid development of the organic farming sector, can generally be obtained by purchasing vegetables that have been harvested so that the interaction between consumers and farmers is very limited. However, a concept called CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that connects farmers with consumers directly and invites consumers to be involved with the production process. Seni Tani is one of the few organic farming businesses that apply the CSA concept in Indonesia. This study aims to explain the type of business and the application of CSA in Seni Tani as an example of the application of CSA in Indonesia which has not been widely carried out. The research design is a qualitative research design with a case study approach. This study uses data collection techniques in the form of observation, in-depth interviews and literature study. The results are indicate that Seni Tani applies regenerative organic agriculture. The plants are organic products and fullfil the principles of health, ecology, justice and protection by imitating natural patterns without adding synthetic chemical inputs. Seni Tani implements social entrepreneurship with a socially responsible enterprise type of business and carries out urban farming activities. CSATani Sauyunan at Seni Tani has fulfilled the CSA concept. CSA Tani Sauyunan fulfills four principles namely partnership, locality, solidarity, and producer-consumer relations. CSA Tani Sauyunan is a small scale CSA that operates informally and can be categorized into the Multi-Farm CSA, Subscription CSA and Mixed-Vegetable CSA types.

The Potential of Blockchain Technology in the Transition towards Sustainable Food Systems

Food systems are both contributing to and affected by environmental degradation and climate change. The transition towards resilient and sustainable food systems is essential to ensure food security and minimise negative environmental impacts. Innovative technologies can accelerate this transition. Blockchain technology (BCT) is attracting attention as it can deliver transparency to complex global food supply chains and has the potential to guide current food production towards better sustainability and efficiency. This case study investigated the opportunities that BCT can offer to food supply chains. Qualitative interviews with eight main BCT providers were conducted to evaluate the current state of BCT and put it into perspective by mapping out advantages, disadvantages, incentives, motives, and expectations connected to its implementation in global food systems. A thematic analysis showed that, while BCT was considered beneficial by all interviewees, uptake is slow due to high implementation costs and the lack of incentives for companies throughout the food chain from farms to food industry and retail. Results further revealed that the advantages of BCT go beyond communication of trustworthy information and development of closer producer–consumer relationships. In fact, it can provide the opportunity to decrease food waste, enhance working conditions throughout the supply chain, and promote sustainable consumption habits. As BCT may be increasingly used in the food supply chain, the results give a basis for future research that may leverage both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine actors’ behaviours. Also, the importance of improving user experiences through functional applications and software to facilitate the adoption of the technology is stressed.

Warming intensifies the interaction between the temperate seagrass Posidonia oceanica and its dominant fish herbivore Sarpa salpa

Apart from directly influencing individual life histories of species, climate change is altering key biotic interactions as well, causing community processes to unravel. With rising temperatures, disruptions to producer-consumer relationships can have major knock-on effects, particularly when the producer is a habitat-forming species. We studied how sea surface temperature (SST) modifies multiple pathways influencing the interaction between the foundational seagrass species, Posidonia oceanica, and its main consumer, the fish Sarpa salpa in the Mediterranean Sea. We used a combination of a field-based temperature gradient approaches and experimental manipulations to assess the effect of temperature on seagrass performance (growth) and fish early life history (larval development) as well as on the interaction itself (seagrass palatability and fish foraging activity). Within the range of temperatures assessed, S. salpa larvae grew slightly faster at warmer conditions but maintained their settlement size, resulting in a relatively small reduction in pelagic larval duration (PLD) and potentially reducing dispersion. Under warmer conditions (>24 °C), P. oceanica reduced its growth rate considerably and seemed to display fewer deterring mechanisms as indicated by a disproportionate consumption in choice experiments. However, our field-based observations along the temperature gradient showed no change in fish foraging time, or in other aspects of feeding behaviour. As oceans warm, our results indicate that, while S. salpa may show little change in early life history, its preference towards P. oceanica might increase, which, together with reduced seagrass growth, could considerably intensify the strength of herbivory. It is unclear if P. oceanica meadows can sustain such an intensification, but it will clearly add to the raft of pressures this threatened ecosystem already faces from global and local environmental change.

Mob justice and ‘The civilized commodity’

ABSTRACT Our theory of ‘the civilized commodity' examines ‘mob violence' affecting high-value commodities, including the vanilla boom of Madagascar. We illustrate producers' labor under fraught conditions of violence and contradictory claims of ‘street justice.' Specifically we ask, what counts as justice and to whom? We highlights broader arguments around ‘moral hyper-proximity' of producer-consumer relations, and the strategies of state and market actors to circulate ‘civilized' visions for systemic and future governance over commodity landscapes. State and market calls for ‘law and order,' however, obscure the structural inequities faced by smallholders in their ‘everyday’ production of commodities under periodic crisis.

Examination of Short Supply Chains Based on Circular Economy and Sustainability Aspects

The sustainability of global food chains and intense agricultural production has become questionable. At the same time, the consumers’ interest in short supply chains (SSCs) and direct sales from producers has increased. SSCs are connected to sustainability by researchers. Their (supposed) positive sustainability attributes are based mostly on extensive production methods and short transport distances. However, from other points of view, the economic and environmental sustainability of the short chains is questionable. Our research aims to cast light on the SSCs’ role in circular economy and sustainability. By deep literature review and content analysis, we determine the sustainability aspects of short (local) chains and their effects related to economy and environment. Short supply chains are connected most widely to circularity and sustainability by the subjects of environmental burden (transport, production method, emission), health, food quality, consumers’ behavior, producer-consumer relationships, and local economy. According to our experience, these factors cannot be generalised across all kinds of short chains. Their circular economic and sustainability features are dependent on their spatial location, type, and individual attitudes of the involved consumers and producers.

Enhancing Food Security by Institutionalizing Collaborative Food Alliances in Urban Areas

Narrowing the food supply-demand gaps between urban and rural areas within a regional space has today become a serious challenge due to the growing urban population. Resultantly, urban markets are increasingly being dominated by industrial food chains, despite their negative socio-environmental impacts. To address this issue, this paper discusses the need and significance of ‘Collaborative Food Alliances’ (CFAs), which promote the direct supply of food products from rural farmers to urban residents through improved producer–consumer relationships. Based on the literature survey, this study underlines that the current CFAs are confronted with several challenges including the small scale of functioning and limited financing. While the current research on CFAs is focused on theoretical place-based studies, this paper argues that institutionalization of CFAs at a large scale is highly important for enhancing food security in urban areas. It mainly deliberates on two key aspects: (a) The process of institutionalizing CFAs and (b) A feasible financing mechanism to support CFAs. This paper emphasizes that urban local governments have a central role to play in institutionalizing CFAs, either as a lead agency or as a facilitator. It concludes with specific suggestions on three key determinants of multi-stakeholder engagement, financial constraints and policy coordination at a regional level.

Extending authenticity: Going corporate in a craft market

Authenticity is a critical feature of a brand’s quality, integrity, and reputation. Scholars maintain that craft companies face a legitimacy crisis after an acquisition because customers question the brand’s authenticity. Significantly less is known about fan loyalty after a buyout. This article tracks the strategies and conditions that enable the extension of authenticity in the move from a craft to a corporate identity. Qualitative case study analysis indicates that consumers are pursuing new contexts to signal superiority and accrue cultural capital. Producer-consumer relations, what I call artisan kinship and craft celebrity, allow for the affirmation of uniqueness and attainment of status. Evolving trends in the procurement and display of cachet have created opportunities for entrepreneurs to avoid criticism of inauthentic behavior.

New approaches in securing more sustainable urban food futures: case from Cologne-Bonn region

Urban food systems undergo a huge transformation. Many cities worldwide are involved; they start to reconsider their current food supply system. This study will describe some developments in the Cologne-Bonn area, Germany, which have the potential to introduce new pathways for more sustainable food futures. Recent developments in urban food systems in the Cologne-Bonn region are very much “bottom-up”, driven by lively and committed actors (gardeners, farmers, civil society). In this paper potential synergies and conflicts in the emerging urban agriculture activities, focusing on producer-consumer relations and evolving co-productive approaches are discussed. We further try to understand motivations, aims and visions of the diverse participants of such models. By using qualitative methods of empirical social research such as narratives and semi-structured interviews primary data were collected in the case region. Until now there is no consensus in the literature about the optimal institutional set-ups for the permanent adoption of the various forms of urban agriculture. Preliminary governance analysis showed that especially institutionalized forms seem to be robust and sustainable. The further exploration of the cases will also contribute to understand the dynamics coming from the involvement of citizens in the agricultural production. Co-productive or participatory agriculture, which includes the consumer into the production process, has the potential to change the way of urban food supply. It is hypothesized that shared motivations and visions between producers and consumers in favor of a sustainable food system will help to stabilize alternative food systems whereas conflicts need to be anticipated to deepen the understanding of problems in the producer-consumer co-productive process. Our first results demonstrate that co-productive models of today are primarily based on idealism from both sides and also bear the potential of conflicts. It will be up to further research and innovation to address these issues and also check the new approaches on economic viability.

Zinc toxicity to Daphnia magna in a two-species microcosm can be predicted from single-species test data: The effects of phosphorus supply and pH.

Ecological interactions and abiotic stress factors may significantly affect species sensitivities to toxicants, and these are not incorporated in standard single-species tests. The present study tests whether a model, calibrated solely on single-species data, can explain abiotic stress factors in a two-species microcosm, a test applied to the effects of nutritional stress (phosphorus [P] limitation) on zinc (Zn) toxicity to Daphnia magna. A population model was developed based on P- and Zn-dependent algal and daphnid growth. Two separate two-species (phytoplankton Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and consumer D. magna) microcosm experiments with P × Zn factorial combinations and a different pH (7.3 and 7.8) were set up to validate the model. The 21-d daphnid population size was considerably reduced by increased Zn and by decreased P supply, with a significant (p < 0.001) interaction between the 2 factors. The observed median effective concentration (EC50) of Zn on D. magna population size varied 12-fold (25 to 310 μg Zn L-1 ), with the lowest EC50 values found at the highest pH and high P treatments. For both experiments, Zn toxicity to D. magna was correctly predicted within a factor of 2 for EC50 values, and this is explained by the model through 1) a higher phytoplankton Zn sensitivity at higher pH, affecting food supply to D. magna, and 2) an increased algal P content at higher Zn, offering a nutritional benefit to daphnids that counteracts direct Zn toxicity under P limitation. The present study illustrates that indirect effects of Zn via producer-consumer relationships can outweigh the direct toxic effects and that models calibrated solely on single-species test data can help with interpreting these results in two-species systems. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2153-2164. © 2018 SETAC.

An Ecosophical Inquiry into Digital Mediation and Design in Relation to Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) in an ‘Expanded Field’ of ‘Agri-culture’

T HIS paper brings together several fields of inquiry, including agriculture, art, digital media, design and philosophy, to make a tentative, exploratory re-framing of Alternative Food Networks ( AFN s), and so to re-think and catalyse fresh opportunities for investigation in the humanities. In order to understand the ‘now’, 1 we have to begin with the long view of the agricultural story and, critically, the mediation of this story. We need to understand how sequential economic, socio-technical and other factors encouraged paradigmatic shifts in the ways we produce, consume and perceive our food. Since Medieval times farmers and producers have been testing new (alternative) systems of production, variously encouraged or resisted by the dominant socio- technical regime. 2 Reaction to the total dominance of agri-industrial farming in the industrialised, northern, western world nations since the 1950s and now globally led to early experiments in different producer-consumer relations, for example through Community Supported Agriculture ( CSA ) schemes, from the 1980s onwards. 3 During the last twenty years these experiments have multiplied under various monikers, such as sustainable farming, bio-farming, organic farming and AFN s to such an extent that they now represent an ‘expanded field’, to borrow a concept from the art critic Rosalind Krauss. 4 Applying this notion of the expanded field to agriculture leads to a clarification of the terminology and diversity of initiatives that contest intensive agri-industrial farming. Furthermore, it suggests that we are actually exploring a phenomenon of agri-culture, not agriculture, that is the development of farming and food system practices underpinned by new cultural practices and values. 5 Zooming in on the AFNs, which focus on developing new producer-consumer relations, it seems appropriate to consider these developments within Felix Guattari’s ecosophy 6 which he proposed as a means to counter the hegemony of Integrated World Capitalism (IWC), or as we know it today, neo-liberal, global capitalism. So, the key questions raised here are how do the AFNs choose to mediate their activities online, whether they embed an ecosophical approach in doing so, and how these might represent new agriculture. Lastly, I examine the potentiality of design to contribute to amplifying and scaling up AFNs and other practices in ‘an expanded field of agri-culture’.

Nurturing proximities in an emerging food landscape

Most AFN studies tend to investigate in which ways these socio-economic constructs are distinct from conventional agricultural circuits. Less emphasis has been put on investigating how the relational processes leading to the formation of different types of AFN constitute different socio-economic constructs. In this paper, I use theoretical underpinnings from the debate in economy geography about proximity dynamics to explore the relational processes of formation of AFN. The use of proximity as a conceptual framework allows distinguishing between spatial (i.e. Euclidean distance) and relational (cognitive, organizational, institutional and social) understandings of emerging producer-consumer relations. I will perform this empirically by investigating accounts from small organic farmers located in a remote rural region of Sweden of how they establish and develop such short relations. The paper comforts findings from previous studies accounting that individual farmers are engaged in co-occurent forms of market relations but goes further by emphasizing the new spatialities and temporalities of the flows of goods, persons and information across the physical landscape that are induced through the formation of AFN.

Food Production and Consumption: City Regions between Localism, Agricultural Land Displacement, and Economic Competitiveness

In the wider debate on urban resilience and metabolism, food-related aspects have gained increasing importance. At the same time, urban agro-food systems in city regions are facing major challenges with regard to often limited domestic supplies, resource-intensive producer–consumer relationships, and the competition for low-price products via global food chains. In this sense, novel methods for coupling local and global processes are required to better understand the underlying mechanisms between the above factors. Exploring the relationship between food supply and demand, this study presents a set of suitable fact-finding tools that are introduced and applied in a comparative study of five European city regions. The methodological framework, by introducing and combining economic-based indexes, aims at overcoming limits and gaps identified by means of a literature review. The model will explicitly address the main features of the regional agro-food systems by managing information on the capacities and opportunities of local agriculture to adequately respond to food demand, as well as by providing insights on the interconnections among localism, global competitiveness of agricultural sectors, and land use change.