scholarly journals Constructing freshness: the vitality of wet markets in urban China

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuru Zhong ◽  
Mike Crang ◽  
Guojun Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Cultural Construction ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Chinese Market ◽  
Chinese Consumers ◽  
Fresh Food ◽  
Wet Market

Abstract Wet markets, a ‘traditional’ form of food retail, have maintained their popularity in urban China despite the rapid expansion of ‘modern’ supermarket chains. Their continued popularity rests in the freshness of their food. Chinese consumers regard freshness as the most important aspect of food they buy, but what constitutes ‘freshness’ in produce is not simply a given. Freshness is actively produced by a range of actors including wholesalers, vendors as well as consumers. The paper examines what fresh food means to consumers in the Chinese market. It argues that wet markets create a sense of freshness that resonates with this culinary culture through their sensoria, atmosphere, and trust between food vendors and consumers. Together these respond to desires for and reproduce criteria used to evaluate freshness. Within a fragmented food trade system, wet market vendors have an advantage in offering ‘freshness’ through their ability to connect various wholesalers, agencies, and middlemen, and shorten supply chains. The paper is based on participatory observation, a consumer survey and in-depth interviews of various stakeholders in southern China, especially Sanya in Hainan and Guangzhou in Guangdong. This study suggests that this cultural construction of freshness creates a niche for small-scale players and ‘traditional’ markets in an increasingly concentrated global food system.

Shared power and fairness in trust-based supply chain relationships in an urban local food system

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 870-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilupa Nakandala ◽  
Meg Smith ◽  
Henry Lau
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Product Price ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Food System ◽  
Supply Chain Relationships ◽  
Fresh Food

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate supply chain relationships in an urban local fresh food system from a retailer perspective to examine the types of relationships and the factors underpinning the development of such relationships.Design/methodology/approachUsing the multiple case study method, interview data from twelve urban local fresh food retailers in Sydney were analysed using the thematic analysis.FindingsThis study finds that balanced power relationships in the supply chain allow reasonable power to sit with growers in product price determination irrespective of the dependency of small-scale growers on relatively large local retailers. Trust-based relationships are developed over multiple transactions, where shared values across the supply chain and consistently low opportunistic behaviour in reward sharing are demonstrated to be the crucial factors underpinning close relationships. This study also found evidence of horizontal supply chain linkages among retailers in a competitive environment.Practical implicationsFindings of this study have implications for policymakers in designing urban fresh food systems and for practitioners in large urban retailers including supermarkets that attempt to integrate local food into their product portfolio.Originality/valueThis study extends the local food system literature dominated by rural studies to include new knowledge about the dynamics of collaborations in contemporary urban local fresh food supply chains. It provides the first empirical evidence of lateral inventory transshipment between retailers in a competitive environment confirming previous simulation studies.

scholarly journals Conflict between Supermarkets and Wet-Markets in Ghana: Early Warning Signals and Preventive Policy Recommendations

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Etornam Kosi Anku ◽  
Gerald Kojo Ahorbo
Keyword(s):  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Purchasing Decisions ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Traditional Markets ◽  
Fresh Food ◽  
Wet Market ◽  
Modern Retailers ◽  
Local Farmers

<p>The source of conflict between Supermarkets and Wet-markets arise from the use of market power and economies of scale by one group against the other. This study explores the tensions that exist between modern retailers and their traditional counterparts as a result of the influx of supermarkets in Ghana. The main objective of the study is to compare attributes related to the control of access to consumers by the Supermarket and the Wet-market. In this study, the dot-survey approach of Rapid Market Assessment Technique was used to elicit information from 438 respondents at the Madina market (wet-market) and Melcom (supermarket) over a period of two weeks and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney (WMW) comparison test and descriptive statistics were employed for the analysis. The results revealed that consumers patronise the supermarkets for convenience and the wet-market for freshness of product. Their purchasing decisions were affected by their level of education and product selections of the retailer. The highly educated preferred to shop at the Supermarket instead of the Wet-market; however, over 50% of respondents preferred the wet-market for fresh food products and the supermarket for non-food items. Each retailer receives its fair share of purchases from its loyal customers, therefore the revolution arising from the supermarket influx in Ghana has not yet resulted into conflict between supermarkets and their traditional counterparts, though it is inevitable if nothing is done to prevent it from happening. To avoid the conflict, it is recommended that policies should be instituted to (i) improve the market infrastructures and shopping environment in the Wet-markets, (ii) give tax concession to modern retailers who source products from local farmers and small-scale processors, (iii) enable traditional retailers position themselves on the fringe and co-exist with modern retailers and (iv) enforce public standards with regards to food safety laws in the traditional markets.</p>

scholarly journals The Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts of Farmers Markets: Recent Evidence from the US

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3423
Author(s):  
Phillip Warsaw ◽  
Steven Archambault ◽  
Arden He ◽  
Stacy Miller
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Farmers Markets ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Regional Food ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Fresh Food

Farmers markets are regular, recurring gatherings at a common facility or area where farmers and ranchers directly sell a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, and other locally grown farm products to consumers. Markets rebuild and maintain local and regional food systems, leading to an outsized impact on the food system relative to their share of produce sales. Previous research has demonstrated the multifaceted impacts that farmers markets have on the communities, particularly economically. Recent scholarship in the United States has expanded inquiry into social impacts that markets have on communities, including improving access to fresh food products and increasing awareness of the sustainable agricultural practices adopted by producers, as well developing tools for producers and market stakeholders to measure their impact on both producers and communities. This paper reviews the recent scholarship on farmers markets to identify recent trends and synthesizes the current evidence describing the ways in which farmers markets contribute to the wellbeing of their communities, as well as identifying areas for additional future research.

scholarly journals Assessing impacts of COVID-19 on aquatic food system and small-scale fisheries in Bangladesh

Marine Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 104422
Author(s):  
Atiqur Rahman Sunny ◽  
Sharif Ahmed Sazzad ◽  
Shamsul Haque Prodhan ◽  
Md. Ashrafuzzaman ◽  
Gopal Chandra Datta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Small Scale Fisheries ◽  
Aquatic Food

scholarly journals Does eating local food reduce the environmental impact of food production and enhance consumer health?

2010 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Edwards-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Non Local ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The concept of local food has gained traction in the media, engaged consumers and offered farmers a new marketing tool. Positive claims about the benefits of local food are probably not harmful when made by small-scale producers at the local level; however, greater concern would arise should such claims be echoed in policy circles. This review examines the evidence base supporting claims about the environmental and health benefits of local food. The results do not offer any support for claims that local food is universally superior to non-local food in terms of its impact on the climate or the health of consumers. Indeed several examples are presented that demonstrate that local food can on occasions be inferior to non-local food. The analysis also considers the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of moving the UK towards self-sufficiency. Quantitative evidence is absent on the changes in overall emissions that would occur if the UK switched to self-sufficiency. A qualitative assessment suggests the emissions per item of food would probably be greater under a scenario of self-sufficiency than under the current food system. The review does not identify any generalisable or systematic benefits to the environment or human health that arise from the consumption of local food in preference to non-local food.

Conclusion: An Alternative Agriculture for Our Time

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connor J. Fitzmaurice ◽  
Brian J. Gareau
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Food System ◽  
Consumer Involvement ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Local Agriculture ◽  
Shopping Experience ◽  
Alternative Markets ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
Full Force ◽  
The Many

Without abandoning the practical idea of farming as a business, the small-scale farmers in this book foster connections between consumer experiences and expectations and farming practices that support their visions of organic. They try to build new, alternative markets to challenge the watering down of “organic” that the full-force entrance of corporate market logics ushered in. However, there are limitations to how sustainable such farming operations can be without further changing the relationships the modern food system is based upon. This chapter begins by recognizing the many limitations of localism, including the potentially neoliberal aspects of such efforts. However, the neoliberal notion that individuals can and should bring forth their own interests and engage in political contestation could (paradoxically) be the very kernel that further popularizes small-scale food production networks that provide safer, more healthful food and a better sense of community than the isolating conventional shopping experience. Finally, the chapter considers how deepening consumer involvement in the process of agriculture, incorporating concerns about social justice into local food systems, and addressing the inefficiencies of decentralized food production could push local agriculture to be even more alternative.

Consumatori cinesi e cibo: tra tradizione millenaria e influenze culturali occidentali

2012 ◽  
pp. 85-99
Author(s):  
Teresa Del Giudice ◽  
Francesco Caracciolo ◽  
Gianni Cicia ◽  
Klaus G. Grunert ◽  
Athanasios Krystallis
Keyword(s):  
Food Products ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Chinese Market ◽  
Chinese Consumers ◽  
Chinese Tradition ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Ancient Chinese ◽  
Culinary Culture ◽  
Cultural Openness

China is one of the most dynamic economies of the planet. The dramatic economic development in recent decades has greatly influenced the structure and habits of Chinese society. This although still characterized by strong disparities between the poorer classes and the wealthy, shows a growing middle class and an increasingly high-income segment. These segments of society are, as expected, evolving from a cultural point of view beginning to incorporate into the ancient Chinese tradition elements of other cultures, most notably the Western one. As was the case for other new economies, especially the rich part of the population is showing an increasing inclination towards all aspects of Western culture. This opening is also affecting the food consumption habits, transforming the dynamic and vibrant Chinese market into a major destination for European food products. The following research by submitting a questionnaire to 500 Chinese consumers residents in metropolitan areas had a dual objective. The first involved the analysis of the propensity of consumers to enter into the ancient Chinese culinary culture food products from other countries. The second was represented by the attempt to segment consumers, depending on the degree of cultural openness towards non- Chinese food, using both socio-demographic and psychographic variables.

Prevalence and incidence of presbyopia in urban Southern China

2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (11) ◽  
pp. 1538-1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaotong Han ◽  
Pei Ying Lee ◽  
Stuart Keel ◽  
Mingguang He
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Population ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Current Analysis ◽  
Random Cluster ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Near Visual Acuity

AimsTo investigate the prevalence and incidence of presbyopia in an urban Chinese population.Methods1817 subjects aged ≥35 years were identified by random cluster sampling in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, China, at baseline in 2008, and all were invited for the follow-up examination in 2014. Distance and near visual acuity (VA) tests, as well as non-cycloplegic automated refraction were performed at each examination as per standardised protocol. Participants with presenting near VA ≤20/40 were further tested with add power at a standard distance of 40 cm to obtain their best-corrected near VA. Functional presbyopia was defined as near VA under presenting distance refraction correction of <20/50 and could be improved by at least one line with add power.ResultsA total of 1191 (83.5% of the 2014 follow-up) participants were included in the current analysis with a mean (SD) age of 50.4 (9.7) years, and 52.9% were female. Prevalence of functional presbyopia at baseline was 25.2% (95% CI 21.5 to 28.9) and the 6-year incidence was 42.8% (95% CI 39.4 to 50.1). Older and more hyperopic subjects had both higher prevalence and incidence of presbyopia (P<0.001). Average presbyopic correction coverage (PCC) was 87.7% at baseline and was significantly lower in myopic participants (P=0.006).ConclusionsPrevalence of functional presbyopia in urban China is relatively lower along with a higher PCC compared with previous population-based rural cohorts. We identified a high presbyopia incidence, and further studies are needed to understand longitudinal presbyopia progression as well as the urban–rural gap in presbyopia to throw light on future strategic planning.

scholarly journals Chemical vegetable safety in China: “supermarketisation” and its limits

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (11) ◽  
pp. 3433-3449
Author(s):  
Lita Alita ◽  
Liesbeth Dries ◽  
Peter Oosterveer
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Retail Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Food Value ◽  
Better Than

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the process of supermarketization in the vegetable retail sector in China and its impact on food safety.Design/methodology/approachData from food safety reports by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) are used to investigate the degree of vegetable safety in different value chain types. To assess the predictors of the degree of vegetable safety, a logistic regression model is applied.FindingsSupermarketization has led to the reorganization of the vegetables provision system, through closer coordination along the supply chain and the use of secured production bases. We identify four types of vegetable value chains in China based on their form of coordination. Supermarkets improve vegetable safety even when they rely on external suppliers, but also wet markets perform significantly better than other small-scale retailers in terms of vegetable safety.Originality/valueThe study has expanded the knowledge of the supermarketization in urban China by collecting data from CFDA. Furthermore, the study used the theory of food value chain to understand determinant factors in securing food safety. Moreover, this study reveals that wet markets also have prospects in solving vegetable safety problems in China, especially in underdeveloped areas.

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