Co-Creating Value in Sustainable and Alternative Food Networks: The Case of Community Supported Agriculture in New Zealand

Background: Over recent decades, society has been facing different social, political, and economic challenges that are changing classical consumption dynamics towards more sustainable practices, mostly in the field of food consumption. In particular, alternative food networks are enabling new food consumption models inspired by principles of participation and sustainability. The aim of this study was to explore how community supported agriculture farms create value for sustainability practices from both farmer and consumer perspectives in order to find new levers to engage consumers towards pursuing better food consumption models. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted following focused ethnography principles. Results: The results show that community supported agriculture is a complex concept based on the active participation of consumers as carers of economic, social, and environmental values. These values are all strongly connected, and together contribute to create an ecosystem where sustainable food practices can be promoted through a “learning by doing” process. Conclusions: This research offers new ways to re-connect and collaborate with consumers in the era of sustainable food consumption.

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Eroding the Community in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): Competition's Effects in Alternative Food Networks in California

Sociologia Ruralis ◽

10.1111/soru.12102 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 56 (4) ◽

pp. 491-512 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Ryan E. Galt ◽

Katharine Bradley ◽

Libby Christensen ◽

Julia Van Soelen Kim ◽

Ramiro Lobo

Keyword(s):

Alternative Food ◽

Community Supported Agriculture ◽

Alternative Food Networks ◽

Food Networks

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Labor and alternative food networks: challenges for farmers and consumers

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems ◽

10.1017/s174217051600034x ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 32 (5) ◽

pp. 403-416 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Analena B. Bruce ◽

Rebecca L. Som Castellano

Keyword(s):

Cover Crops ◽

Food Production ◽

Alternative Food ◽

Alternative Food Networks ◽

Small Scale ◽

Labor Intensity ◽

Food Provisioning ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

Food Networks ◽

The Impact

AbstractAlthough alternative food networks (AFNs) have made strides in modeling socially just and environmentally sound agrifood system practices, the next step is to make these innovations available to more people, or to increase participation in AFNs. However, there are several barriers to expanding the impact of AFNs. The labor intensity of producing and consuming foods in AFNs is sometimes overlooked but poses a significant challenge to alternative agrifood systems’ long-term viability. This paper brings together two independently conducted empirical research studies, one focused on sustainable food production and one focused on food provisioning in the sphere of consumption. Farmers engaged in small-scale alternative food production are investing significantly more time in maintaining the health of their soils by practicing crop rotation, growing a greater diversity of crops and building organic matter with cover crops and compost. Because much of this work is unpaid, the added labor requirements pose an obstacle to the financial viability and social sustainability of alternative production methods. On the consumption side, the labor intensity of food provisioning for women engaged in AFNs, combined with other socio-demographic factors, at times, constrains AFN participation. By identifying the ways in which labor may limit the ability of AFNs to expand to a larger portion of the population, this paper helps shed light on ways of increasing the environmental, social and health benefits of AFNs.

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

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture11101006 ◽

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.

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

International Food and Agribusiness Management Review ◽

10.22434/ifamr2020.0193 ◽

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.

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

Moravian Geographical Reports ◽

10.1515/mgr-2017-0016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 181-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

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.

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

International Journal of Agriculture System ◽

10.20956/ijas.v4i2.692 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 184 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

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