Individual consumer food localism: A review anchored in Canadian farmwomen’s reflections

Local food movements have emerged in many parts of Canada to support local farmers, sustain the regional food supply, encourage the consumption of healthier foods, and address environmental concerns associated with conventional agriculture. The implementation of food localism to date, however, has remained primarily the responsibility of consumers. This paper seeks to examine the practical realities of individual consumer localism in order to understand how food localism operates at the household level. Local food scholarship and empirical data from a recent study of Canadian farmwomen’s food provisioning practices are used to assess the feasibility and implications of buy local and eat local messages for consumers. In particular, physical access to local food markets, financial constraints to buying local and food self-provisioning, and (gendered) labor requirements are examined in detail. Findings suggest that encouragement by local food advocates to ‘buy local’ and ‘grow food’ are not simple transactions for households; rather, such practices must be considered within the broader food provisioning context and the structural constraints therein. Although well-intentioned, these urgings delegitimize real constraints that exist for many individuals and households, in particular those outside of well-serviced urban areas, those who are food insecure, and those without the necessary resources (time, labor, skill, and expertise) to engage in local food provisioning. The ability of consumers to engage in individual localism will be limited as long as the broader context in which food provisioning activities are undertaken is ignored.     

The Brazilian organic food sector: Prospects and constraints of facilitating the inclusion of smallholders

The Brazilian organic food sector has experienced important growth during the last two decades. Brazilian smallholders, however, are facing huge challenges to enter and benefit from this growth in a sustainable way. Combining the lens of New Institutional Economics and socio-anthropology, we analyze six experiences of Brazilian smallholders who converted to organics in the 1990s’. Three different food systems are featured in this analysis: an alternative food system, which is strongly interwoven with the Brazilian Agro-ecological movement and two commercial food procurement systems oriented towards domestic and an export markets driven mainly by supermarket chains. The analytical focus was on 1) the governance of these food systems, 2) the constraints farmers are facing within these food systems and, 3) the benefits that they can expect from market inclusion. We highlighted the roles that NGOs, Faith-based organizations and public-related agencies play in supporting the inclusion of smallholders into all three food systems. We confirmed the arguments in support of pursuing the agro-ecological development based model in Brazil, but underlined that there is a critical lack of support for farmers included in the commercial market-oriented food systems. Such a lack is even more critical as the food systems driven by expanding supermarket chains are characterized by strong asymmetric power relations at the expense of smallholders. Considering the reluctance of NGOs and Faith-based organizations to support these farmers, we call for efforts to be made to provide a policy framework to enable public-related entities to secure sustainable inclusion into these systems and exit strategies for those experiencing exclusion from these highly competitive food systems.     

Evaluating the impact of a healthy corner store initiative on food access domains

Healthy Corner Store Initiatives (HCSIs) are one food access strategy that aims to improve food environments by supporting local food stores in expanding their healthy offerings. This study presents the evaluation results from one such HCSI. Fresh Foods Here evaluated its network of eight stores in Columbus, Ohio between November 2013 and August 2014. Data from invoices, inventories, rapid market assessments, and customers surveys were analyzed for evidence of impact on the service delivery and personal domains of food access. For some indicators, initial gains were concentrated between pre- and interim evaluation periods, followed by either a leveling off or decline between interim and post. However, overall results were promising, with increases noted in the number of healthy items ordered by store owners, in daily foot traffic and transactions, and in consumer confidence for certain healthy behaviors. Lessons learned concerning the operation and evaluation of HCSIs are shared.     

Developing a Multicomponent Model of Nutritious Food Access and Related Implications for Community and Policy Practice

Access to nutritious foods is limited in disenfranchised communities in the United States. Policies are beginning to focus on improving nutritious food access in these contexts; yet, few theories are available to guide this work. We developed a conceptual model of nutritious food access based on the qualitative responses of food consumers in 2 different regions of the American South. Five domains (economic, service delivery, spatial–temporal, social, and personal) and related dimensions of nutritious food access were identified. The conceptual model provides practical guidance to researchers, policy makers, and practitioners working to improve nutritious food access in communities.     

The Rise of Kenyan Supermarkets and the Evolution of their Horticulture Product Procurement Systems

Supermarkets are rapidly penetrating urban food retail in Kenya and spreading well beyond their initially tiny market niche among the urban middle class into the food markets of lower‐income groups. Having penetrated processed and staple food markets much earlier and faster than fresh foods, they have recently begun to make inroads into the fresh fruits and vegetables category. Supermarkets in Kenya already buy about half the volume of produce exported, and thus represent a significant new ‘dynamic market’ opportunity for farmers. The important changes in their procurement systems bring significant opportunities and challenges for small farmers, and have implications for agricultural diversification and rural development programmes and policies.     

Big Food,Nutritionism, and Corporate Power

Big Food corporations have capitalized on nutritionism—the reduction of food’s nutritional value to its individual nutrients—as a means by which to enhance their power and position in global processed and packaged food markets. Drawing on the literatures on nutrition and corporate power, we show that Big Food companies have used nutritional positioning to bolster their power and influence in the sector. Through lobbying and participation in nutritionally focused public–private partnerships, they have directly sought to influence policy and governance. Through market dominance in the nutritionally enhanced foods sector, and participation in nutrition-focused rule-setting activities in agrifood supply chains, they have gained power to influence policy agendas. And they have used public outreach and the media to present their views on the nutritional aspects of their products, which shapes public perceptions and the broader regulatory environment. Together, these strategies have enhanced the power of Big Food firms to influence policies in the food sector.     

Progressing knowledge in alternative and local food networks: Critical reflections and a research agenda

In the now extensive literature on alternative food networks (AFNs) (e.g. farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture, box schemes), a body of work has pointed to socio-economic problems with such systems, which run counter to headline claims in the literature. This paper argues that rather than being a reflection of inherent complexities in such food systems, the continued uncertainties about the fundamental nature and development of AFNs are, at least in part, a function of how AFNs are often conceptualised and investigated, which ultimately impedes progress in knowledge of such systems. After introducing the main theoretical perspectives of research in the field, and setting out what is known currently about AFNs and their characteristics, the paper goes on to articulate four features of AFN research which, it is argued, give rise to problems in this field. In particular, the paper identifies inconsistent use of concepts and terms, conflation of the structural characteristics of food systems with desired outcomes and/or actor behaviours, insufficient acknowledgement of the problems of marketplace trading, and a continued lack of a consumer perspective. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for future research into AFNs that seeks to break current boundaries and encourage greater progress in knowledge in this field.     

Food Waste and Quality of Life in Elderly Populations Living in Retirement Living Communities

Food waste is an increasingly important issue in all food-service establishments, including retirement living communities. With residents of these communities having faced food insecurity as children and young adults, they have unique and very strong feelings regarding this issue. We interviewed 16 Canadian residents and used manifest content analysis to gain an understanding of how their experiences, behaviors, and feelings toward food waste may impact their quality of life. The results of this study may have implications for how retirement living communities approach their food-service operations.     

上海市食品生产经营企业诚信体系建设研究

上海食品生产经营企业诚信体系建设,要在政府推进、企业实施、市场运作的基本架构下,进一步完善相关标准与法律,使食品生产经营企业的诚信体系建设有标准、有依据、有约束;要采取食品生产经营企业内部管理提升与外部征信体系建设同步推进的模式,一手抓整改建设,一手抓征信评估,以促进食品生产经营企业的诚信体系建设,提升企业的诚信水平;要进一步打通职能部门间的信息障碍,建设统一的信息共享平台,将食品生产经营企业诚信基本信息作为公共物品的形式,免费向社会公众开放;要充分发挥行业协会的行业约束、智力支持与评估认证的功能,使食品生产经营企业在诚信体系建设过程中,有依靠、有监督与反馈。     

Local Food and Civic Engagement: Do Farmers Who Market Local Food Feel More Responsible for Their Communities?

Do farmers who participate in local food systems attach greater importance to civic engagement than farmers whose livelihood is not tied to the vitality of local markets? The literature on local food as a social movement continues to paint a picture of local food systems as contributing to, and benefiting from, rich networks of civil society groups. Yet to date, few studies have directly addressed the question of whether marketing local food is actually associated with higher levels of civic engagement among farmers. In this paper, I draw on local capitalism theory to identify two different mechanisms—depth of economic reliance on local markets, and breadth of social networks related to local food sales—that might spur farmers who market local food to feel more responsible for their communities. Then, using data from a large-scale survey of specialty crop growers, I explore whether a relationship exists between farmer involvement with local food markets and attitudes toward civic engagement. Results suggest that while farmers strongly committed to local food markets attach greater importance to civic engagement, participation in multiple categories or kinds of local food supply chains is not necessarily associated with stronger civic values.     

Linking Local Food Systems and the Social Economy? Future Roles for Farmers' Markets in Alberta and British Columbia*

Often organized as grassroots, nonprofit organizations, many farmers' markets serve as strategic venues linking producers and consumers of local food while fulfilling multiple social, economic, and environmental objectives. This article examines the potential of farmers' markets to play a catalyst role in linking local food systems to the social economy in western Canada. We used the Delphi method of inquiry to solicit and synthesize perspectives on the future role of farmers' markets within local food systems and the social economy from farmers' market vendors, market managers, and policy and government representatives in each province. We found that negotiations over the definition of local food systems, the dynamics of supply and demand relationships, and perceptions of “authenticity” affect the positionality of farmers' markets in relation to other marketing channels within regional food systems. Stakeholders engaged in this Delphi inquiry strategized ways to scale up local food systems beyond current limits while also maintaining the “authentic experience” offered by farmers' markets that has helped to fuel increased consumer interest, demand, and growth. Results confirm the need for further investigation of the relationship between the social economy, infrastructure, and authenticity in the development of local food systems.     

Squaring Farm Security and Food Security in Two Types of Alternative Food Institutions*

Abstract Even though both farmers' markets and community supported agriculture were first developed to provide markets for farmers, recently the goals of food security have been attached to these market‐based alternative food institutions, based on their potential to be 'win‐win” economic solutions for both small‐scale farmers and low‐income consumers. This article reports on survey and interview research conducted in California during 2004–2005 designed to examine to what extent CSAs and farmers' markets are addressing food security in both concept and practice. Findings show that managers of these institutions generally support the idea of improving the affordability of the food they provide, and most have made an effort to do so, although these efforts vary with institutional capacity. Still, some hedged their interest in supporting food security goals with countervailing concerns such as the need to support farmers first. It is ironic, then, that the way that private CSAs and farmers' markets achieve some elements of food security is by virtue of the support of public food assistance programs.     

Embeddedness and local food systems: notes on two types of direct agricultural market

Direct agricultural markets, predicated on face-to-face ties between producers and consumers, are often seen as central components of local food systems. Activists and academic analysts often assume that trust and social connection characterize direct agricultural markets, distinguishing local food systems from the “global food system”. This article examines that premise about direct agricultural markets, using the concept of social embeddedness from economic sociology to analyze the interplay of the economic and the social. Specifically, it draws on Block's (1990) elaboration of the concepts of marketness and instrumentalism to qualify the concept of social embeddedness. Taken together, and augmented by consideration of how they relate to power and privilege, these concepts provide an analytical framework that more accurately describes the social relations of two types of direct agricultural markets — the farmers’ market and community supported agriculture. In providing an alternative market, farmers’ markets create a context for closer social ties between farmers and consumers, but remain fundamentally rooted in commodity relations. In attempting to construct an alternative to the market, as reflected in an explicit emphasis on community and in the distinctive “share” relationship, community supported agriculture moves closer towards the decommodification of food. Nonetheless, in both types of direct markets, tensions between embeddedness, on the one hand, and marketness and instrumentalism, on the other, suggest how power and privilege may sometimes rest more with educated, middle-class consumers than with farmers or less-advantaged consumers. Recognizing how marketness and instrumentalism complicate social embeddedness is critical for understanding the viability, development and prospects of local food systems.     

解决食品安全问题的市场化路径探析

传统理论认为食品安全作为重要的民生领域,应是政府的主要职责,属于市场失灵的领域。但实践证明,单一的政府公共治理模式并不能有效解决食品安全问题。相反,如果能在食品安全管理的环节中更多地引入市场经济的理念,让市场机制发挥作用,探索符合市场经济规律要求的路径和手段,却可能在新形势下为解决食品安全问题寻找到一条有效的创新思路。     

Food Insecurity in Regional Rural Australia

ABSTRACT

This study explores food relief recipients' and providers’ experiences and perceptions of food insecurity in a large regional town in Australia. The cross-sectional qualitative methods research design incorporated survey-based interviews of four food relief services, a focus group of food relief recipients and two biographical interviews of food insecurity experience. Qualitative thematic data analysis provided insight into the respondents’ experience and perceptions of the causes of food insecurity, the provision of food relief and the limitations of a charity model. An ecological-model-based analysis shows that food insecurity is the product of multiple complex causes including chronic and situational poverty. Political dimensions emerged in terms of the policies that are developed or omitted.

IMPLICATIONS

• Social workers need to advocate for the human right to food and strengthen capacity at multiple levels to improve food security.

• Improving access to quality and culturally appropriate food requires the implementation of multiple strategies.

     

Separability between own food production and consumption in Turkey

Complete markets imply the separation of food production and consumption decisions such that they can be modeled to occur sequentially and can be studied independently. Separation is very often assumed implicitly in empirical studies of food demand. If there is such separation, then food sourced within the household should not have any influence upon the budget share of each food group. Using this insight, this paper first develops a procedure to test for the separation of household food production and consumption decisions. Furthermore, it incorporates the testing procedure into the Almost Ideal Demand Systems model and utilizes survey data from 2003 for Turkey for empirical testing. It concludes that the separation assumption is unwarranted for Turkey. Next, it investigates the extent of bias in elasticity estimates when the separation assumption is unwarranted. It concludes that ignoring the nonseparation of consumption and production decisions in rural areas leads to significant overestimation of food expenditure elasticity for dairy products and eggs and own-price elasticity for bread and cereals.     

Farmer share and fair distribution in food chains from a consumer’s perspective

Discussions about fair revenue distribution in food supply chains gained importance in 2008 when European milk producers entered a strike against dairy processing companies (EU milk strike). A broad discussion in the media emerged, provoking civil society as well as politics to get involved in a debate over fair prices for farmers. During the milk strike, consumers in Germany were to a large extent sympathetic with the farmers, while food retailers were seen as the main cause of the problem. However, the question what fairness and a fair revenue distribution in food production meant remained unanswered. Hence, this study aims to analyze consumer perceptions of what a fair revenue distribution is in food chains and to determine what factors contribute to fairness perceptions of the farmers’ share. Through an online survey conducted in November 2012, German consumers were asked to estimate the distribution of the food dollar among different supply chain partners and to indicate what a fair distribution should look like. This paper contributes to the literature of the perceived unfair compensation of farmers and provides empirical examples of the concepts of distributive, procedural and interactional fairness. The findings of the survey showed that farmers are mainly perceived as being treated unfairly in supply chains and should get more compensation from a consumer’s point of view. Food retailing should mainly lose shares in this context. A fair distribution of revenues is influenced by distributive considerations, process control and interactional fairness, revealing that non-monetary aspects are also influencing fairness perceptions of revenue distribution in food chains.     

稳定物价、保障民生工作仍需高度重视——上海主副食品涨价影响调查分析

在世界经济复苏乏力、成本推动型通胀预期强化的大背景下,如何继续保持物价稳定,为结构调整和民生改善提供必要支撑,是上海转型发展过程中的重要议题。通过问卷调查发现,居民普遍感到2011年主副食品涨价幅度较大,给生活带来明显压力,同时对食品安全问题还有顾虑。政府稳定物价的各项政策措施也有待完善和巩固。鉴于此,本文提出进一步稳定物价的多项政策建议。     

Recession and international corporate mobility

The international mobility of MNE personnel has been increasing in recent years both through traditional forms of expatriation and short‐term assignments and through business travel. These overall ‘portfolios of mobility’, however, have been complemented by intensified virtual communication and growing localization of recruitment in developing production and market regions. In this article, we report on a return survey of the impacts of the 2008 recession on the mobility portfolios of a sample of UK‐based MNEs and consider how far it has affected established trends. We begin by reviewing evidence from recent large‐scale surveys on corporate staff mobility. We then focus on how the relationship between established business goals and global mobility strategies was rebalanced within individual companies as the recession took hold. Our evidence indicates the widely variable effects of recession, strongly affecting operations in some parts of the world, but making little, if any, change elsewhere. In many cases, corporate restructuring or the increased focus on emerging markets were already reshaping mobility portfolios. Diversification and flexibility have underlain the development of these portfolios over the last decade. The recession has accelerated several processes already under way, including a shift towards alternatives to traditional assignments and the closer incorporation of new and emerging markets into mobility systems. It has also allowed companies to drive through changes that might otherwise have been more contentious, such as reducing the financial incentives for assignment.     

Putting place on the menu: The negotiation of locality in UK food tourism,from production to consumption

This paper uses a case study of tourism in the Lake District and Exmoor to explore the relationship between ‘local food’ and sustainable rural tourism in the UK. Drawing on qualitative interviews with tourists, food producers and café, pub and restaurant owners, I use an approach based upon the commodity chain to trace the shifts in the discursive and material understandings of the ‘local’ that take place throughout the tourist food chain. These shifts are shown to occur in response to the need to negotiate the tensions between the ideals and the practicalities of food production and consumption which occur as a result of the relationships that exist throughout the food chain. Such conclusions are shown to be important for our understanding of the links between ‘local food’ and sustainable rural tourism because they indicate that we must attend to the values, as well as the practicalities, that drive the contemporary food sector at all stages of the food chain, from production to consumption.