scholarly journals Alternative Food Networks Development and Multiple Actors’ Participation in China: A Review

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan Yang
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Community Supported Agriculture ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Food Network ◽  
Food Networks ◽  
Alternative Food Network ◽  
The Government

This article reviews the studies about the alternative food network development in China, summarizes the results and identifies the issues for further research. It first introduces different theoretical perspectives in alternative food network studies in China, including community supported agriculture, nested market, short food supply chains and producerconsumer connection. The causes of rising alternative food networks are the serious food safety problem, the un-balanced power between different actors in the mainstream agrofood system and the increasing number of middle income citizens. Its development close relates to the changes in the international agro-food system. And the government dominates the establishment of the certification system and give limited support to the emerging food networks. The consumers and majority of producers are social elites, and the small scale farmers participate in the networks under the support of intermediaries. Further studies can pay more attention to following issues: the landscape of alternative food networks development in China, the value construction processes between different actors, the role of companies in alternative food network construction and introducing technical perspective of ecological agriculture into research.

scholarly journals Know the Farmer That Feeds You: A Cross-Country Analysis of Spatial-Relational Proximities and the Attractiveness of Community Supported Agriculture

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1006
Author(s):  
Christina Gugerell ◽  
Takeshi Sato ◽  
Christine Hvitsand ◽  
Daichi Toriyama ◽  
Nobuhiro Suzuki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Food System ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Component Analysis ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
Community Supported Agriculture ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Food Networks ◽  
Alternative Food Network

While food production and consumption processes worldwide are characterized by geographical and social distance, alternative food networks aim to reconnect producers and consumers. Our study proposes a framework to distinguish multiple dimensions of proximity in the context of Community Supported Agriculture (a type of alternative food network) and to quantitatively evaluate them. In a principal component analysis, we aggregated various detailed proximity items from a multinational survey using principal component analysis and examined their relationship with the attractiveness of Community Supported Agriculture in a multiple regression analysis. Our findings highlight the importance of relational proximity and thus of increasing trust, collaboration, and the sharing of values and knowledge within and across organizations in the food system. Rather than focusing on spatial proximity, increasing relational proximity might support alternative food networks, such as Community Supported Agriculture.

scholarly journals Quantifying differences in alternative food network supply chain activities and their relationship with socio-economic outcomes

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Erik Hunter ◽  
Andreas Norrman ◽  
Eva Berg
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Farmers Markets ◽  
Community Supported Agriculture ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Food Network ◽  
Food Networks ◽  
Alternative Food Network ◽  
Fair Wages

Alternative food networks (AFNs) have the potential to enhance and redistribute value in favour of producers and consumers through novel ways of organizing supply chain activities. What is more, AFNs are often characterized by their ‘sustainability promise’ – or the idea that their networks foster social, ecological or environmental improvements over conventional food networks. Based on a purposive sample of 286 producers across five Swedish AFNs (i.e. community supported agriculture, REKO-rings, farmers’ markets, farm stores and food nodes), we explore how differences in how supply chain activities are managed and relate them to profitability, fair wages, cooperation, logistics efforts, happiness and future beliefs. Using a combination of correlation analysis, linear regression and means comparisons, we challenge the notion that AFNs achieve their sustainability promise or enhance value through novel combinations of supply chain activities. Our findings include several key differences in how supply chain management (SCM) activities are organized across AFNs and their variant importance for profitability. Moreover, we find significant differences in happiness across AFNs that are better explained through beliefs about the future than profitability or fair wages. By exploring happiness and profitability, we offer insights into why some AFN actors thrive despite poor economic returns.

scholarly journals Effects of consumer-producer interactions in alternative food networks on consumers’ learning about food and agriculture

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Opitz ◽  
Kathrin Specht ◽  
Annette Piorr ◽  
Rosemarie Siebert ◽  
Ingo Zasada
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Food System ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Community Supported Agriculture ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food Networks ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Specific Learning

Abstract In the recent literature, Alternative Food Networks (AFN) are discussed as a promising approach, at the urban-rural interface, to meeting the challenges of the current agri-food system. Consumer-producer collaboration is seen as a characteristic feature in this context. What is lacking, however, are general concepts for describing the topics of consumer-producer interactions (CPI). The present study aims (1) to develop an analytical framework relying on six CPI domains and (2) to apply it to investigate CPI effects on consumers’ learning about and appreciation of agriculture. We conducted 26 guided interviews with consumers and producers of the three most frequent AFN types in Germany: community-supported agriculture (CSA), food coops, and self-harvest gardens. The results show that AFN participation enhances consumers’ learning about food (seasonality, cooking/nutrition, housekeeping aspects) and agricultural production (farmers’ perspectives, cultivation). Our results show that consumer’s learning is influenced by certain CPI domains, and each AFN type can be described by distinctive CPI domains. This led to the conclusion that specific AFN types open up specific learning channels and contents, with consumers learning from producers. AFNs at the urban-rural interface exploit knowledge of rurality.

scholarly journals Alternative food networks as a counterbalance in the globalized perception of young consumers

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 05015
Author(s):  
Miroslava Navrátilová ◽  
Josef Abrhám ◽  
Markéta Beranová ◽  
David Brož
Keyword(s):  
Distribution Channels ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
General Level ◽  
Food Network ◽  
Food Networks ◽  
Young Consumers ◽  
Alternative Food Network ◽  
Globalized World ◽  
On Farm

The phenomenon of alternative food networks is becoming increasingly important, especially in the context of changes in consumer behavior and business sustainability. The distribution channels of some products place a disproportionate burden on the environment. In this context, the issue of local food production and the use of local distribution channels are becoming increasingly important as counterbalances of international trade processes in the context of globalization. New food-specific forms include alternative food networks. Sustainability is a topical issue, especially among young consumers, who are sensitive to environmental issues and like all new things. This consumer target group will shape the future of the current globalized world. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the general level of awareness among young people aged 20 34 in the Czech Republic about alternative forms of purchasing food and to identify knowledge of different forms of this sale. Primary research data was used to evaluate preferences in 2019. The total number of participants was 519 respondents. The results show that more than half of the respondents have ever encountered the concept of an alternative food network. Most often, respondents said they had personal experience of selling on farm markets and selling organic food.

scholarly journals How alternative food networks work in a metropolitan area? An analysis of Solidarity Purchase Groups in Northern Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Baldi ◽  
Danilo Bertoni ◽  
Giuseppina Migliore ◽  
Massimo Peri
Keyword(s):  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Food Network ◽  
Alternative Food Network ◽  
High Motivation ◽  
Small Producers

Abstract Our paper focuses on Solidarity Purchase Group (SPG) participants located in a highly urbanized area, with the aim to investigate the main motivations underlining their participation in a SPG and provide a characterization of them. To this end, we carried out a survey of 795 participants involved in 125 SPGs in the metropolitan area of Milan (Italy). Taking advantage of a questionnaire with 39 questions, we run a factor analysis and a two-step cluster analysis to identify different profiles of SPG participants. Our results show that the system of values animating metropolitan SPG practitioners does not fully conform to that traditionally attributed to an alternative food network (AFN). In fact, considerations linked to food safety and healthiness prevail on altruistic motives such as environmental sustainability and solidarity toward small producers. Furthermore, metropolitan SPGs do not consider particularly desirable periurban and local food products. Observing the SPGs from this perspective, it emerges as such initiatives can flourish also in those places where the lack of connection with the surrounding territory is counterbalanced by the high motivation to buy products from trusted suppliers who are able to guarantee genuine and safe products, not necessarily located nearby.

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.

scholarly journals ALTERNATIVE FOOD NETWORKS AND NEW PRODUCER-CONSUMER RELATIONS IN FRANCE AND IN BRAZIL

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
MOACIR ROBERTO DAROLT ◽  
CLAIRE LAMINE ◽  
ALFIO BRANDENBURG ◽  
MARIA DE CLÉOFAS FAGGION ALENCAR ◽  
LUCIMAR SANTIAGO ABREU
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Family Farming ◽  
Food Networks ◽  
Short Circuits ◽  
The Government

Abstract This paper presents an analysis about agroecological alternative food networks and new producer-consumer relationships in France and Brazil. The investigation method is based on descriptive and qualitative research about 20 cases (qualitative interviews), selected with stakeholders (farmers, traders, consumers and food experts) in France and Southern Brazil. A typology about the characteristics and organization to short circuits trade is provided. The results show that alternative food networks are very diverse and dynamic, being a social, economic and environmental option to family farming, strengthening local markets and reconnecting producers and consumers. In these countries, the successful initiatives of alternative networks occur in places where there is coordination between food networks stakholders such as the government, NGOs, private enterprises, farmers and consumers' organizations.

scholarly journals Online and On-Site Interactions within Alternative Food Networks: Sustainability Impact of Knowledge-Sharing Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola De Bernardi ◽  
Alberto Bertello ◽  
Francesco Venuti
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Food System ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Farmers Market ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Food Networks

The sustainability debate in the food sector has exposed the current food system to critics, encouraging the significant growth of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), new ways of food production, distribution and consumption that aim to shorten the food chain. Our study is focused on Food Assembly (FA), a special kind of AFN combining the culture of social entrepreneurship and digital innovation to achieve sustainability and a high social impact. The coexistence of a digital platform and a weekly farmers’ market triggers, within this network, mechanisms of knowledge sharing and self-organisation. To date, however, few studies have focused simultaneously on online and on-site interactions within AFNs, especially with quantitative studies. Our paper aims to test the hypothesis that online and on-site knowledge sharing affects the success of a FA measured by customer sustainable behaviour change. To do so, we developed a quantitative analysis based on a regression model. We collected data via a questionnaire submitted to 8497 Italian FA customers, of which 2115 responses were included in our analysis. The results show that online knowledge sharing significantly affects customer change towards more sustainable purchasing and consumption behaviours, while on-site knowledge sharing positively affects sustainable purchasing behaviours.

scholarly journals For food space: theorizing alternative food networks beyond alterity

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Renata Blumberg ◽  
Helga Leitner ◽  
Kirsten Valentine Cadieux
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Agrarian Change ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Alternative Food Networks ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Food Networks

<p>In response to calls by scholars to deepen theoretical engagement in research on Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), in this article we critically discuss and assess major theoretical approaches deployed in the study of AFNs. After highlighting the strengths and limitations of each theoretical approach, we provide an alternative framework – which we refer to as the Geographical Political Ecology of Food Systems – that integrates the contributions that have emerged in the study of the alternative geographies of food with an understanding of capitalist processes in the food system. We do this by bringing together literature on the political ecology of food systems and multiple spatialities, including Doreen Massey's understanding of space as a heterogeneous multiplicity and Eric Sheppard's conceptualization of sociospatial positionality. We utilize research on agrarian change and AFNs in Eastern Europe to elaborate this approach. We argue that this new perspective helps navigate tensions in AFN scholarship, and provides new avenues for research and action. We focus particularly on the ability of AFNs to provide a sustainable livelihood for participating farmers, thus far a neglected topic in AFN research in Europe.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Alternative Food Networks, Eastern Europe, spatialities, positionality, livelihoods</p>

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