scholarly journals The role of a food policy coalition in influencing a local food environment: an Australian case study

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 917-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia McCartan ◽  
Claire Palermo

AbstractObjectiveTo explore how an Australian rural food policy coalition acts to influence a local food environment, focusing specifically on its composition, functions and processes as well as its food-related strategies and policy outputs.DesignA qualitative case study approach was undertaken. Three sources were used to triangulate data: eleven semi-structured in-depth interviews with coalition members, analysis of thirty-seven documents relating to the coalition and observation at one coalition meeting. Data were analysed using a thematic and constant comparison approach. Community Coalition Action Theory provided a theoretical framework from which to interpret findings.SettingTwo rural local government areas on the south-eastern coast of Victoria, Australia.SubjectsEleven members of the food policy coalition.ResultsFive themes emerged from the data analysis. The themes described the coalition’s leadership processes, membership structure, function to pool resources for food system advocacy, focus on collaborative cross-jurisdictional strategies and ability to influence policy change.ConclusionsThis Australian case study demonstrates that with strong leadership, a small-sized core membership and focus on collaborative strategies, food policy coalitions may be a mechanism to positively influence local food environments.

Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097300522199143
Author(s):  
Sneha Kumari ◽  
Nisha Bharti ◽  
K. K. Tripathy

Indian agriculture has always been less profitable. Several factors contribute to the low profitability in agriculture, but less value addition, weak value chain system and weak market linkage are some of the most important factors. Producer companies are helping small farmers to emerge in the market. The farmer producer organisations (FPOs) linked with the producer companies are the best example of collective actions. The collective actions for the agriculture value chain (AVC) have resulted in a decrease in the cost and an increase in revenue. FPO and producer company find a good place in the underpinning theory of collective action theory. This study examines various successful examples of strengthening AVC through cooperatives and tried to identify various factors responsible for the success of these collectives. This study has adopted a case study approach. Three successful cases, that is, Vasundhara Agriculture Horticulture Producer Company Ltd: a multi-state FPO, Abhinav Farms Club and Sahyadri Farmer Producer Company have been selected for the case study based on their successful interventions for strengthening the agriculture value chain. Primary and secondary data has been collected through telephonic interviews from the board of directors, chairman and the members of the FPO. Both primary and secondary data have been collected to compare the three cases for AVC models. The data has been analysed using a comparative case study approach. The parameters of AVC have been identified using the Delphi technique. The study has found that collective actions have helped the farmers to strengthen the agriculture value chain. The study also concluded that leadership played an important role in defining the success of the FPOs. The study brings out future directions to excel in AVC through collectives.


Author(s):  
Tracy Berno

Purpose Since 4 September 2010, the greater Christchurch region has endured a series of destructive earthquakes. As a result, food resilience, as a component of community resilience, has become highly relevant. This paper aims to explore the role of social entrepreneurs and the local food system in building community resilience. Design/methodology/approach Using a quasi-case study method, four social enterprise food initiatives are presented to illustrate conceptually how these local food systems contribute to community resilience in the post-earthquake context in Christchurch. Findings The results suggest that a generation of social entrepreneurs have emerged, giving rise to networked local food system initiatives that share the common goals of building multiple and unique forms of capital (human, social, natural, financial and physical). In doing so, they have contributed to creating conditions that support community resilience as both a process and an outcome in post-earthquake Christchurch. Research limitations/implications This research included only four enterprises as the case study, all located in central Christchurch. As such, the results are indicative and may not represent those found in other contexts. Practical implications The research suggests that social entrepreneurs make a significant contribution to both enhancing food security and building community resilience post-disaster. How policy infrastructure can empower and enable entrepreneurs’ post-disaster warrants further consideration. Social implications Collectively, the four enterprises included in the research were found to have created local solutions in response to local problems. This embeddedness with and responsiveness to the community is a characteristic of resilient communities. Originality/value Post-earthquake Christchurch is a living laboratory in relation to understanding community resilience. The processes by which it is occurring, how it is sustained over time and the shapes it will take in the future in such a dynamic environment are not yet understood. This paper contributes to understanding local food systems as part of this process.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline De Chabert-Rios ◽  
Cynthia S Deale

The number of restaurateurs owning farms or gardens that supply part of their operations’ fresh produce and other food products has increased considerably over the past few years. This phenomenon, termed “hyper-local,” involves a significant commitment that goes well beyond purchasing local food. Hyper-local restaurateurs take on the tasks of a farmer/gardener, a job that requires a variety of skills and presents numerous challenges. While some research studies have addressed local purchasing, local farm-to-restaurant relationships and decision making, and various consumer issues, very little work has focused on the hyper-local phenomenon. Therefore, this exploratory qualitative study was undertaken to understand the reasons why some restaurateurs are entering the farming business and to learn about the financial, operational, and customer-related benefits and challenges encountered by restaurateurs operating their own farms. A case study approach was used to gather information from three restaurateurs that currently own and operate farms that provide products for their restaurants. The study explores the benefits, rewards, and challenges of these types of operations, their possible financial issues, motivations of the restaurateurs, and issues that could impact the growth potential of this trend.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Goulding ◽  
Rebecca Lindberg ◽  
Catherine Georgina Russell

Abstract BACKGROUND/AIMS: EAT–Lancet Commission’s Planetary Health Diet proposed a diet that integrates nutrition and sustainability considerations, however its affordability is unknown in many country-specific contexts, including Australia. The aim of this study is to develop a healthy and sustainable food basket modelled on the Planetary Health Diet to determine the affordability of the Planetary Health Diet basket across various socio-economic groups, and compare this affordability with a food basket modelled on the typical current diet, in an Australian setting.METHODS: An Australian-specific Planetary Health Diet basket was developed for a reference household (2 adults and 2 children) modelled on the Planetary Health Diet reference diet, and compared to a previously-developed Typical Australian Diet basket. The cost of each food basket was determined by online supermarket shopping surveys in low, medium and high socio-economic areas in each Australian state. Basket affordability was determined for the reference household by comparing the basket cost to disposable income in each socio-economic group in each state. Mann-Whitney U tests then determined if there were significant differences between the median costs and the median affordability of both baskets.RESULTS: The Planetary Health Diet basket was shown to be less expensive and more affordable than the Typical Australian Diet basket nationally, in all metropolitan areas, in all socio-economic groups across Australia (median cost: Planetary Health Diet=AUD$188.21, Typical Australian Diet=AUD$224.36; median affordability: Planetary Health Diet=13%, Typical Australian Diet=16%; p=<0.05).CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the Planetary Health Diet to be more affordable than the Typical Australian Diet for metropolitan-dwelling Australians.IMPLICATIONS: These results can help to inform public health and food policy aimed at achieving a healthy and sustainable future for all Australians, including reductions in overweight/obesity rates and increased food security.


Author(s):  
Sònia Callau-Berenguer ◽  
Anna Roca-Torrent ◽  
Josep Montasell-Dorda ◽  
Sandra Ricart

The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a warning for the world’s current food system, especially in urban contexts with global food dependence. This article aims to analyse the food system behaviour of the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (in the northeast of Spain) during the first stage of the pandemic by deepening the behaviour of different peri-urban agricultural areas in which local food supply is promoted. Semi-structured interviews to 11 entities and institutions located in the peri-urban area of the BMR based on its productive and management profile have been carried out from March to May 2020. The results obtained highlight the socio-economic, environmental, and health perspective of food supply during the pandemic. Main results show 1) shortcomings in the operation and logistics of the metropolitan food system; 2) the complicity between the local producer and the urban consumer through new sales and distribution initiatives, 3) the role of peri-urban agricultural areas for ensuring food supply and land preservation, and 4) the need to initiate cooperation and mutual aid activities between the different agents involved in the food system. Furthermore, agents underlined the need for rethinking the agroeconomic model to strengthening the producer-consumer nexus and promoting local food policy based on food sustainability, sovereignty, and governance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 301-305
Author(s):  
Philip Birch

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider primary prevention from the perspective of person-based crime prevention. This crime prevention measure is illustrated by an Australian case study. The report also recognises the integral role the community plays in the delivery of primary person-based crime prevention. Design/methodology/approach This short paper adopts a case study approach. Findings The paper illustrates the purpose and achievements of primary person-based crime prevention, including the success it has in reducing crime and improving feelings of safety in the community. The important role of community members and their contribution to this crime prevention method is offered. Practical implications The practical implications this paper offers are to ensure community members are involved in the delivery of primary person-based crime prevention, to explicitly measure the contribution community members make to primary person-based crime prevention initiatives, to explicitly measure the contribution primary person-based crime prevention makes to the reduction of crime, and to build on the known success of primary person-based crime prevention through the implementation of more initiatives within this area of crime prevention. Originality/value Primary person-based crime prevention can be overlooked in favour of primary place-based crime prevention. This short paper offers an insight into an overlooked aspect of crime prevention.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2024
Author(s):  
Tina Bartelmeß ◽  
Jasmin Godemann

This study examines how corporations in the German food industry understand and perceive communication as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimension, how they communicate about food-related sustainability, and how this corporate food communication can lead to sustainability-oriented change in action-guiding institutions. This study takes a communicative-constructivist viewpoint that does not focus on the extent to which the communicated corresponds to the actual action but rather on how communication and communicatively constructed institutions can shape, influence, or constitute the action. A comparative qualitative case study approach reveals how two deviant cases within the producing and processing food industry assume responsibility through food communication and identifies five underlying roles of communication that, in their case-specific variations yield in two different conceptualizations of perceiving responsibility through communication. The analysis and interpretation of data, in the reference frame of communicative institutionalism, outline promising prospects on how corporate food communication can contribute to institutional changes that guide decisions and actions for sustainable development of the food system. Furthermore, the findings highlight food quality as a relevant communication resource for food-related discussions about sustainability that cross systems in the context of the food system and transforms an institution in such a way that it now also refers to aspects of sustainability.


2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmel Foley ◽  
Katie Schlenker ◽  
Deborah Edwards ◽  
Lyn Lewis-Smith

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