scholarly journals Perfect food: perspectives on consumer perceptions of fresh produce quality

2018 ◽  
Vol 196 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-186
Author(s):  
Caitlin Finlayson
Keyword(s):  
Food Waste ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Food System ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Fresh Produce ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The People ◽  
Industrial Food Production

Over the past century, the global food system has largely shifted from a localized, decentralized agricultural model to more centralized, industrial food production system. Corresponding with this shift was a change in consumer preferences, an expectation for “perfect” fruits and vegetables that has contributed to a significant problem with wasted food. An alternative food system, aimed at providing locally-grown, sustainable produce has countered this model and has sought to reconnect consumers and producers. At the same time, this alternative model still exists within a larger agricultural system dominated by industrial production and standardization. This paper examines how the changes in the ways consumers look at fresh produce quality has affected the practices of retailers and drives food waste at the supply chain using in-depth interviews conducted in a variety of settings in Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA. An analysis of these interview findings reveals that even in alternative food buying locations, consumers have a general expectation of perfection but that as consumers build relationships with the people who grow their food, these perceptions, and our food waste practices, might be changed.

scholarly journals Linking Food Democracy and Sustainability on the Ground: Learnings from the Study of Three Alternative Food Networks in Brussels

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Lohest ◽  
Tom Bauler ◽  
Solène Sureau ◽  
Joris Van Mol ◽  
Wouter M. J. Achten
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
The People ◽  
Food Networks ◽  
Food Democracy

The article explores and discusses, both conceptually and empirically, the exercise of food democracy in the context of three alternative food networks (AFNs) in Brussels, Belgium. It demonstrates that food democracy can be described as a “vector of sustainability transition”. The argumentation is built on the results of a 3.5-year participatory-action research project that configured and applied a sustainability assessment framework with the three local AFNs under study. Firstly, the article presents a localized understanding of food democracy. Food democracy is defined as a process aiming to transform the current food system to a more sustainable one. This transformation process starts from a specific point: the people. Indeed, the three AFNs define and implement concrete processes of power-configuration to alter the political, economic, and social relationships between consumers and producers as well as between retailers and producers. Secondly, the article assesses and discusses how the three AFNs perform these practices of food democracy and what effects these have on the actors concerned. The assessment shows that the three AFNs distinguish themselves along a gradient of their transformative potential in terms of practices. However, this variation in their interpretation of food democracy does not translate into a gradient of performance.

scholarly journals Rewriting Desirability an Exploration Of North American Ugly Food Marketing Campaigns

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sienna Dawn Ing Tozios
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
North American ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Food System ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Food Retailers ◽  
Global Food

The application of aesthetic and cosmetic standards to fresh fruits and vegetables results in the discrimination and elimination of an abundance of “ugly” foods. The systematic elimination of “ugly” foods, which are foods deemed suboptimal in their appearance, weight, shape, or size, greatly contributes to the global problem of food waste in a time of increasing food insecurity. Grocers and food retailers in Canada and the U.S. have begun promoting the sale of “ugly” foods in an attempt to combat the issue of food waste. This MRP (Major Research Paper) examines the names and titles of eleven North American “ugly” food marketing campaigns. This project explores how “ugly” foods are communicated to consumers in North America and how the chosen language used in these campaign titles works to normalize “ugly” foods and attempts to alter their desirability to consumers. The analysis is conducted using textual coding and the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) method. Moreover, this MRP reflects on the power of grocers and food retailers to encourage the consumption of “ugly” foods, reduce food waste at the retail level, and effect change in the global food system.

scholarly journals Rewriting Desirability an Exploration Of North American Ugly Food Marketing Campaigns

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sienna Dawn Ing Tozios
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
North American ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Food System ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Food Marketing ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Food Retailers ◽  
Global Food

The application of aesthetic and cosmetic standards to fresh fruits and vegetables results in the discrimination and elimination of an abundance of “ugly” foods. The systematic elimination of “ugly” foods, which are foods deemed suboptimal in their appearance, weight, shape, or size, greatly contributes to the global problem of food waste in a time of increasing food insecurity. Grocers and food retailers in Canada and the U.S. have begun promoting the sale of “ugly” foods in an attempt to combat the issue of food waste. This MRP (Major Research Paper) examines the names and titles of eleven North American “ugly” food marketing campaigns. This project explores how “ugly” foods are communicated to consumers in North America and how the chosen language used in these campaign titles works to normalize “ugly” foods and attempts to alter their desirability to consumers. The analysis is conducted using textual coding and the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) method. Moreover, this MRP reflects on the power of grocers and food retailers to encourage the consumption of “ugly” foods, reduce food waste at the retail level, and effect change in the global food system.

scholarly journals Healthy eating: a matter of prioritisation by households or policymakers?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Joreintje Dingena Mackenbach
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Food System ◽  
Vegetable Consumption ◽  
Fruit And Vegetable Consumption ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Fruit And Vegetable ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Abstract I reflect upon the potential reasons why American low-income households do not spend an optimal proportion of their food budgets on fruits and vegetables, even though this would allow them to meet the recommended levels of fruit and vegetable consumption. Other priorities than health, automatic decision-making processes and access to healthy foods play a role, but solutions for the persistent socio-economic inequalities in diet should be sought in the wider food system which promotes cheap, mass-produced foods. I argue that, ultimately, healthy eating is not a matter of prioritisation by individual households but by policymakers.

scholarly journals Alternative Agri-Food Systems Under a Market Agencements Approach: The Case of Multifunctional Farming Activity in a Peri-Urban Area

Environments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Maria Cecilia Mancini ◽  
Filippo Arfini ◽  
Federico Antonioli ◽  
Marianna Guareschi
Keyword(s):  
Urban Area ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Alternative Food Systems ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Trade Offs

(1) Background: A large body of literature is available on the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of alternative food systems, but not much of it is devoted to the dynamics underlying their design and implementation, more specifically the processes that make an alternative food system successful or not in terms of its sustainability aims. This gap seems to be particularly critical in studies concerning alternative food systems in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). This paper explores how the design and implementation of multifunctional farming activity in a peri-urban area surrounding the city of Reggio Emilia in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy impact the achievement of its sustainability aims. (2) Methods: The environmental, social, and economic components of this project are explored in light of the sociology of market agencements. This method brings up the motivations of the human entities involved in the project, the role played by nonhuman entities, and the technical devices used for the fulfillment of the project’s aims. (3) Results: The alternative food system under study lacked a robust design phase and a shared definition of the project aims among all the stakeholders involved. This ended in a substantial mismatch between project aims and consumer expectations. (4) Conclusions: When a comprehensive design stage is neglected, the threefold aim concerning sustainability might not be achievable. In particular, the design of alternative food systems must take into account the social environment where it is intended to be put in place, especially in UPA, where consumers often live in suburban neighborhoods wherein the sense of community is not strong, thus preventing them from getting involved in a community-based project. In such cases, hybridization can play a role in the sustainability of alternative food networks, provided that some trade-offs occur among the different components of sustainability—some components of sustainability will be fully achieved, while others will not.

scholarly journals Analyzing proprietary, private label, and non-brands in fresh produce purchases

2020 ◽  
pp. 147078532094833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary William Anesbury ◽  
Kristin Jürkenbeck ◽  
Timofei Bogomolov ◽  
Svetlana Bogomolova
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Fresh Produce ◽  
The United States ◽  
Private Label ◽  
Consumer Loyalty ◽  
Buying Behavior ◽  
Fast Moving Consumer Goods ◽  
Private Label Brands ◽  
Analytical Approaches

When purchasing packaged products within a supermarket, consumers choose between proprietary or private label brands. However, when purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables, non-branded produce is the dominant option—with proprietary and private label brands only recently becoming available. Previous fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) research finds that proprietary and private label brands affect consumer loyalty—however, no research exists for fresh categories. This research is the first to determine the effect of emerging brands in fresh categories on consumer buying behavior. Our research examines consumers’ loyalty toward proprietary, private label, or non-branded fresh fruits and vegetables and the level of customer sharing between these options, using analytical approaches applicable to FMCG categories. The panel data contains nearly 46,000 households making over 8 million purchases in the United States during 2015. Results show that proprietary, private label, and now non-branded fresh produce have expected loyalty levels, for their size, and consumers share their purchases across the three options (i.e., consumers are not loyal to just one option). The study analyzes and interprets purchase data in fresh categories offering marketing academics and practitioners actionable advice for working with fresh produce purchase data.

scholarly journals Moving from Niche to Norm: Lessons from Food Waste Initiatives

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7667
Author(s):  
Lusine H. Aramyan ◽  
Gonne Beekman ◽  
Joris Galama ◽  
Sandra van der Haar ◽  
Maarten Visscher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Waste ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Success Traits

For a transition to a circular economy to take place, behavioural change from people who are part of the transition is a key requirement. However, this change often does not occur by itself. For systemic behavioural change, policy instruments that incentivise behaviour supporting circular food systems play a key role. These instruments need to be aligned with the environment in which the behaviour takes place. In this study, we scrutinise a case study with five initiatives on the reduction of food loss and waste (FLW) contributing to a circular food system, to understand how specific, well-targeted combinations of instruments as well as other contextual and personal factors can fuel the transition to a circular economy and the reduction of FLW. All the initiatives are taking place under the umbrella of the Dutch initiative “United against food waste” (STV). We use a behavioural change perspective to assess how initiatives that support circular food systems arise and how they can be further supported. Based on the case-study analysis, we arrive at five common success traits and barriers, and five key needs for upscaling. We conclude that motivated, inspiring frontrunners are of key importance in the initial phase of a transition process. However, once a niche initiative is ready to be scaled up, the enabling environment becomes increasingly important.

scholarly journals Promises of meat and milk alternatives: an integrative literature review on emergent research themes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Lonkila ◽  
Minna Kaljonen
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Consumer Preferences ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Scientific Journal ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Social Scientific

AbstractIncreasing concerns for climate change call for radical changes in food systems. There is a need to pay more attention to the entangled changes in technological development, food production, as well as consumption and consumer demand. Consumer and market interest in alternative meat and milk products—such as plant based milk, plant protein products and cultured meat and milk—is increasing. At the same time, statistics do not show a decrease in meat consumption. Yet alternatives have been suggested to have great transitional potential, appealing to different consumer segments, diets, and identities. We review 123 social scientific journal articles on cell-based and plant-based meat and milk alternatives to understand how the positioning of alternatives as both same and different in relation to animal-based products influences their role within the protein transition. We position the existing literature into three themes: (1) promissory narratives and tensions on markets, (2) consumer preferences, attitudes, and behavioral change policies, (3) and the politics and ethics of the alternatives. Based on our analysis of the literature, we suggest that more research is needed to understand the broader ethical impacts of the re-imagination of the food system inherent in meat and milk alternatives. There is also a need to direct more attention to the impacts of meat and milk alternatives to the practices of agricultural practices and food production at the farm-level. A closer examination of these research gaps can contribute to a better understanding of the transformative potential of alternatives on a systemic level.

scholarly journals The Small World of the Alternative Food Network

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Brinkley
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Small World ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Food Network ◽  
Robust Network Design ◽  
Alternative Food Network

This research offers the first use of graph theory mathematics in social network analysis to explore relationships built through an alternative food network. The local food system is visualized using geo-social data from 110 farms and 224 markets around Baltimore County, Maryland, with 699 connections between them. Network behavior is explored through policy document review and interviews. The findings revealed a small-world architecture, with system resiliency built-in by diversified marketing practices at central nodes. This robust network design helps to explain the long-term survival of local food systems despite the meteoric rise of global industrial food supply chains. Modern alternative food networks are an example of a movement that seeks to reorient economic power structures in response to a variety of food system-related issues not limited to consumer health but including environmental impacts. Uncovering the underlying network architecture of this sustainability-oriented social movement helps reveal how it weaves systemic change more broadly. The methods used in this study demonstrate how social values, social networks, markets, and governance systems embed to transform both physical landscapes and human bodies. Network actors crafted informal policy reports, which were directly incorporated in state and local official land-use and economic planning documents. Community governance over land-use policy suggests a powerful mechanism for further localizing food systems.

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