“Food Miles” and the Politics of Localism

Transfers ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-138
Author(s):  
Louise Nelson Dyble

David Pimentel and Marcia Pimentel, Food, Energy and Society, 3rd ed. (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2008), xix + 380 pp.James E. McWilliams, Just Food: Where Locavores Get it Wrong and How We can Truly Eat Responsibly (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009), 258 pp., Pb US$14.99.C. Claire Hinrichs and Thomas A. Lyson, eds., Remaking the North American Food System: Strategies for Sustainability (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2008), 384 pp., Hb US$45.00, Pb US$29.95.David Burch and Geoffrey Lawrence, eds., Supermarkets and Agri-food Supply Chains (Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2007), xiv + 330 pp.

The shorter food supply chains were the emerging trend in the agro-food system. The characteristic of local food supply chains are regional, freshness, quality products, and health benefits to the consumers. The present study explores the existing local dairy supply chains in the Haryana state. The local dairy supply chains were analysed and found that the shorter milk supply chains were more profitable with reduced intermediaries and higher producer shares in consumer rupees for all dairy products. The supply chains which involved intermediaries had lesser cost per unit of operation in dairy processing but fetched lower prices due to the quality issues and more distance travelled by dairy products. The economic viability and financial position of the processing units exhibited favourable results for both supply chains but it was higher for Supply Chain-I.


2021 ◽  
pp. 369-406
Author(s):  
Rounaq Nayak ◽  

Global food production needs to increase by approximately 70% by 2050 to ensure food security and feed the global population which is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. To achieve these objectives in a sustainable manner, there is a need for modernisation and intensification of agricultural practices. There is also an increasing demand for proving sustainability within supply chains with research showing a direct correlation between transparency and consumer trust in agri-food products. This chapter starts out by detailing the impact and need for a globalised food system. It then progresses to discuss existing applications of Internet of Things (IoT) systems and the potential of future IoT systems in helping achieve these targets. The chapter also briefly touches upon the potential for combining Blockchain Technology and IoT systems in helping improve transparency and accountability within agri-food supply chains.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Vittersø ◽  
Hanne Torjusen ◽  
Kirsi Laitala ◽  
Barbara Tocco ◽  
Beatrice Biasini ◽  
...  

The present food system faces major challenges in terms of sustainable development along social, economic and environmental dimensions. These challenges are often associated with industrialised production processes and longer and less transparent distribution chains. Thus, closer distribution systems through Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs) may be considered as a sustainable alternative. This study explores the role of different types of SFSCs and their contribution to sustainability through participants’ (consumers, retailers and producers) views and perceptions. As part of the European H2020 project “Strength2Food” we conducted a cross-case analysis and examined 12 European SFSC cases from six countries: France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland and the UK. We applied a mixed method approach including primary data collection, via in-depth interviews and customer surveys, as well as desk research. The findings suggest that, irrespective of the type of SFSC, a strong agreement among the participants were found on the contribution of SFSCs to social sustainability. However, participants’ views considerably differ regarding the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. These differences relate to the way the SFSCs were organised and to some degrees to regional differences attributed to the significance of SFSC in different parts of Europe. The article concludes that the spatial heterogeneity of SFSCs, including supply chain actor differences, different types and organisational forms of SFSCs as well as regional and territorial characteristics, must be taken into account and further emphasised in future policies aimed at strengthening European food chain sustainability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Martindale ◽  
Mark Swainson ◽  
Sonal Choudhary

Pressure points in global food supply where resilience in supply chains can be limited or controlled are the equivalent of Critical Control Points in food safety systems. The approach of using critical control in supply chains can provide insights for nutritional improvement, sustainable food trade and food waste reduction. The pressure points determine the provision of a secure and sustainable food system where the outcomes of reducing their criticality are identified in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other international programmes. These seek to reduce climate change impact and improve public health provision. While policy makers are rightly focussed on these targets, the data analysis methods required to rank and associate resource flow pressure points with commercial food supply chains and nutritional goals remain untested. Here, we show how methodologies can identify where opportunities to tackle future criticality exist, and where they are currently being overlooked for food categories that have the greatest consumer and dietary protein demand. The analysis provides insights that identify where latent restrictions in resilience can occur, so that the future risk of food insecurity is reduced.


2021 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 103136
Author(s):  
Isabeau Coopmans ◽  
Jo Bijttebier ◽  
Fleur Marchand ◽  
Erik Mathijs ◽  
Lies Messely ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 5473
Author(s):  
Konrád Kiss ◽  
Csaba Ruszkai ◽  
Antónia Szűcs ◽  
Gábor Koncz

The scientific examination of short food supply chains is justified by consumer interest and their role in the European Unions’ subsidy policy and rural development. In our current article, we present the results of a consumer survey of more than a thousand people from Hungary. It was conducted in the North Hungarian (rural) region. Our research goals were: (1) To access consumer demand for short food supply chains and to determine the characteristics of consumers who prefer local foods; and (2) to examine the role of short food supply chains in rural development by a territorial comparison. The results showed that consumers’ willingness to pay a theoretical premium for local products was high (averagely +20.7%). Compared to that, we considered their monthly purchased quantity low. We found a statistically valid, yet weak, correlation that on a monthly basis, the purchase of local products was more significant for consumers from smaller settlements and villages than those from (greater) cities. Furthermore, there were factors in some consumers’ preferences that indicated a greater interest for small producers’ goods. Although it was not possible to assess the absolute demand of the studied rural area, these results (at a certain level) confirm the potential of short food chains in rural development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-332
Author(s):  
Antonio de la Peña García ◽  
Silvia A. Zimmermann ◽  
Ana Alice Eleuterio

The food system in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, experienced changes that reflected the uncertainties and restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study describes urban and periurban family farmers’ ongoing strategies to adapt to changes in the local food supply chains (FSCs) after the temporary suspension of farmers’ markets and government programs directed to small-scale agriculture. Their disruption proved problematic for the farmers and the vulnerable populations served by them. As a result, some farmers redirected their products’ commercialization to delivery or pickup services. Based on observations and conversations with producers and retail intermediaries, we show that farmers’ delivery and pickup-based sales increased dramatically with the pandemic. The sustainability of these practices is unknown, although they have strengthened forms of cooperation and commercialization amongst farmers, mainly through online marketing. Based on the results, the study provides a series of research questions to explore food systems and FSCs under severe social disruption.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Malak-Rawlikowska ◽  
Edward Majewski ◽  
Adam Wąs ◽  
Svein Ole Borgen ◽  
Peter Csillag ◽  
...  

The production and distribution of food are among the hot topics debated in the context of sustainable development. Short food supply chains (SFSCs) are now widely believed to be more sustainable in comparison to mass food delivery systems. To date, very little quantitative evidence exists on the impacts of various types of food supply chains. Using a cross-sectional quantitative approach, this study assesses the sustainability of distribution channels in short and long food supply chains based on 208 food producers across seven countries: France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. Ten distribution channel types are used in this study. To provide a comprehensive sustainability assessment, a set of economic, social, and environmental indicators are applied. Indicators commonly used in the literature are used, supported by original indicators constructed specifically for the present study. In total, 486 chains are examined and the study confirms that individual producers participate simultaneously in several, short and long chains. Participation in SFSCs is beneficial for producers from an economic perspective. SFSCs allow producers to capture a large proportion of margin otherwise absorbed by different intermediaries. It appears, however, that ’longer’ supply channels generate lower environmental impacts per unit of production when measured in terms of food miles and carbon footprint. Finally, ambiguous results are found regarding social dimension, with significant differences across types of chains.


Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 540
Author(s):  
Chiara Mazzocchi ◽  
Stefano Corsi ◽  
Giordano Ruggeri

Over the last years, the trust of consumers in the quality and sustainability of the food system has weakened due to the disconnection between producers and consumers. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) and Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs), born out of the perceived loss of trust in the globalized food system, are trying to shorten the gap between farmers and consumers. Nowadays, many scholars agree that local and global food systems coexist, and consumers usually buy both in local and in global food chains. Our study aims to understand the factors that affect the development of AFNs with a specific focus on the interactions with small- and large-scale food retailing in the Lombardy region in the north of Italy. We employ an Ordinary Least Square (OLS) model, on a municipal scale, in which the dependent variable measures the number of participatory activities carried out by farmers and consumers in AFNs. The main results highlight that conventional large retailers and alternative food networks are linked, and that the coexistence of the two market channels may lead to the development for both of them. Contrarily, where small stores exist, they may compete with an alternative food channel, as they offer similar products and services.


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