Reconnecting through local food initiatives? Purpose,practice and conceptions of ‘value’

Reconnection between producers and consumers is often presented as an integral part of the local food narrative. However, questions can arise as to whether local food producers and their food purchasers align in mindset and the value proposition that underpins their involvement. This paper draws on interview data collected from producers and consumers participating in direct-sell meat operations to explore so-called value propositions between these two actors in local food initiatives (LFIs) in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. We suggest that because producers and consumers value their participation and associated ‘reconnection’ for different reasons and experience practical limitations in satisfying diverse expectations, the ‘reconnection’ metaphor is complex and contingent—especially at the level of the individual. The findings suggest that new roles, realities and beliefs for each party in regard to marketing, customer relations, distribution, and (in)convenience might predispose participants to be in favor of other arrangements (without direct contact) if they became more readily available and were capable of guaranteeing both profitability for the producer and healthy foods for the consumer.     

New farmers’ efforts to create a sense of place in rural communities: insights from southern Ontario,Canada

This research situates new farmers within the counter-urbanization phenomenon, explores their urban–rural migration experiences and examines how they are becoming a part of the rural agricultural landscape. Key characteristics in new farmers’ sense of place constructions are revealed through an ethnographic study conducted in southern Ontario, Canada, during the summer of 2009. Using a sense of place framework comprised of place identity, place attachment, and sense of community, this research details a contemporary concept of place to provide a fresh perspective on new farmers. It uncovers underlying motivations, goals, and values attached to rural agricultural landscapes as well as the “everyday” interactions and challenges experienced by those transitioning into rural farming communities. New farmers are found to draw unevenly from both the physical and social landscape of the urban and rural environments in the creation of a sense of place. This finding raises important questions about the socio-spatial dynamics that underscore the place of food and the local food movement.     

Re-localizing ‘legal’ food: a social psychology perspective on community resilience,individual empowerment and citizen adaptations in food consumption in Southern Italy

This paper investigates how Food Security (FS) is enacted in a southern region of Italy, characterized by high rates of mafias-related activity, arguing for the inclusion in the research of socio-cultural features and power relationships to explain how Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) can facilitate individual empowerment and community resilience. In fact, while FS entails legality and social justice, AFNs are intended as ‘instrumental value’ to reach the ‘terminal value’ of FS within an urban community in Sicily, as well as the space where citizens can act their individual and collective political food choices. Building on the social psychology literature and on ecologic-psychopolitical models (Christens and Perkins in J Commun Psychol 36(2):214–231, 2008), we discuss the case of Addiopizzo, a citizen project promoting the legality of their AFNs through the rejection of the payment of the pizzo (the protection money asked by racket) in the local food chain. The aim is to problematize the extent to which FS is able to re-localize ‘legal’ food in the market. This was done by reconnecting citizens to their space and territory in a socio-cultural context at risk where agro-food producers, retailers and consumers are not free to fully enact their citizenship agency because of a widespread illegal structure. The research findings show that Addiopizzo project enables citizens to act their social power: agro-food producers and retailers by subscribing to formal requirements based on values that reject racket; consumers by purchasing Addiopizzo labelled products; individuals and groups by participating further open-to-the-public activities that promote everyday politically oriented behaviour. The citizen empowerment and community resilience can be exerted within AFNs as they are interconnected paths of reflexivity and social learning within social adaptation. The paper concludes by advocating the role of urban communities as a pivotal agent to maintain positive social adaptations, where AFNs work as a socio-cultural synthesis of traditional and alternative producer–consumer ways of interaction, which are embodied in the FS value.     

The third-party regulation on food safety in China:A review

Stakeholders in the field of food safety management in China can be classified into three categories,government,food producers(farmers and enterprises),and the third-party regulatory bodies. The third-party regulation has experienced rapid development in past twenty years,and recently received considerable attention from consumers and the central government. This paper provides a review about the development,problems and future trend of the third-party regulation on food safety in China. To be specific,five forms of the third-party regulation are assessed,including media exposure,the third-party certification,regulation by consumer associations,social movements promoted by non-governmental organizations(NGOs),and regulation by industry associations. The study concludes that media and consumer associations are the major players in the third-party regulation and are highly repudiated among customers. The food certification industry has developed rapidly,but is now facing crises of confidence among consumers because of its lack of self-regulation. NGOs and industry associations still remain in the early development stages of food safety management,and therefore,are of little importance in current regulatory bodies.     

Foundations of production and consumption of organic food in Norway: Common attitudes among farmers and consumers?

In Norway, the production andconsumption of organic food is still small-scale. Research on attitudes towards organic farming in Norway has shown that most consumers find conventionally produced food to be good enough. The level of industrialization of agriculture and the existence of food scandals in a country will affect consumer demand for organically produced foods. Norway is an interesting case because of its small-scale agriculture, few problems with food-borne diseases, and low market share for organic food. Similarities between groups of consumers and producers of food, organic and conventional, when it comes to attitudes concerning environment, use of gene technology, and animal welfare have implications for understanding market conditions for organically produced food. The results of our study indicate that organic farmers and organic consumers in Norway have common attitudes towards environmental questions and animal welfare in Norwegian agriculture. Conventional farmers have a higher degree of agreement with the way agriculture is carried out today. Unlike organic farmers and consumers, conventional farmers do not see major environmental problems and problems with animal welfare in today's farming system. But like the organic farmers and consumers, and to a stronger degree than conventional consumers, conventional farmers renounce gene technology as a solution to environmental problems in agriculture. These results are discussed in relation to their importance for the market situation for organically produced foods.     

Putting the farmer’s face on food: governance and the producer–consumer relationship in local food systems

Local food systems (LFSs) have grown in popularity around the world in recent years. Their framing often emphasizes the re-connection of producers and consumers against the “faceless” and “placeless” industrial agriculture. However, previous research suggests that such romanticized narratives may not keep up with reality. This relates to the transformative potential of LFSs and to whether they actually generate alternative modes of social organization that challenge problematic aspects of the food system. We place our focus on the practices and narratives that construct the producer/consumer relationship and show how these systems are governed. Our fieldwork was carried out in two LFSs in two distinct settings: community supported agriculture groups in NYC and responsible consumption communities in Catalonia, Spain. Three main types of practices and narratives are identified: sharing, negotiation and utilization practices, and narratives. Our findings reveal great heterogeneity between the two LFSs and show how intermediates participate in the producer/consumer relationship.     

Mobility, embodiment, and scales: Filipino immigrant perspectives on local food

Local foodshed proponents in the United States seek to change the food system through campaigns to “buy local” and to rediscover “good food” in the local foodshed. Presumably, common sense dictates that the word “local” signifies spatial proximity to the consumer. For some populations, however, both the terms “local” and “local food” signify various different meanings. The local food definition generally used by scholars and activists alike as “geographically proximate food” is unhelpfully narrow. Localist rhetoric often does not incorporate the food choices and practices of immigrants, migrants, and refugees. In this paper, I report the various characterizations of local food among Filipino immigrants in San Diego, California: (1) geography-based local food; (2) (US) America-based local food; (3) community-based local food; and (4) immigrant identity-based local food. Local foodshed proponents should acknowledge those who have a starkly different definition of “local”—those who possess translocal subjectivities, for whom “local-ness” is both mobile and embodied. My study underscores how the movement of food—or its containment within a geographic space—cannot be viewed in isolation from the movement of people.     

Cultivating citizenship,equity, and social inclusion? Putting civic agriculture into practice through urban farming

Civic agriculture is an approach to agriculture and food production that—in contrast with the industrial food system—is embedded in local environmental, social, and economic contexts. Alongside proliferation of the alternative food projects that characterize civic agriculture, growing literature critiques how their implementation runs counter to the ideal of civic agriculture. This study assesses the relevance of three such critiques to urban farming, aiming to understand how different farming models balance civic and economic exchange, prioritize food justice, and create socially inclusive spaces. Using a case study approach that incorporated interviews, participant observation, and document review, I compare two urban farms in Baltimore, Maryland—a “community farm” that emphasizes community engagement, and a “commercial farm” that focuses on job creation. Findings reveal the community farm prioritizes civic participation and food access for low-income residents, and strives to create socially inclusive space. However, the farmers’ “outsider” status challenges community engagement efforts. The commercial farm focuses on financial sustainability rather than participatory processes or food equity, reflecting the use of food production as a means toward community development rather than propagation of a food citizenry. Both farms meet authentic needs that contribute to neighborhood improvement, though findings suggest a lack of interest by residents in obtaining urban farm food, raising concerns about its appeal and accessibility to diverse consumers. Though not equally participatory, equitable, or social inclusive, both farms exemplify projects physically and philosophically rooted in the local social context, necessary characteristics for promoting civic engagement with the food system.     

Increasing food sovereignty with urban agriculture in Cuba

Urban agriculture in Cuba has played an important role for citizens’ food supply since the collapse of the Eastern Block. Through the land reform of 2008 and the Lineamientos of 2011, the Cuban government has aimed to support agriculture in order to increase national food production and reduce imports. However, the implementation of the designed measures faced obstacles. Therefore, the research objective was to display how the government’s measures aiming to support domestic food production influenced urban agriculture. The qualitative research comprised semi-structured interviews with 15 urban farmers in Havana and revealed the respondents’ experiences with the land reform and the Lineamientos and the potential of the reforms to implement food sovereignty. Findings show that the land reform has facilitated access to land for newcomer and existing farmers. However, availability of agricultural inputs has been limited and they were often expensive. Thus, urban farmers frequently produced farm inputs at their plots and applied sustainable farming practices to minimize their dependence on external inputs. The reforms have generated private marketing opportunities and have stimulated urban farmers to increase production. At the same time, subsidies have been reduced and consumers have faced increasing food prices. In conclusion, the land reform and the Lineamientos have created framework conditions for food sovereignty. However, the challenge is to increase the coherence of the theoretic aim and the practical implementation of the reforms.     

Place,Taste, or Face-to-Face? Understanding Producer–Consumer Networks in “Local” Food Systems in Washington State

In an increasingly globalized food economy, local agri-food initiatives are promoted as more sustainable alternatives, both for small-scale producers and ecologically conscious consumers. However, revitalizing local agri-food communities in rural agro-industrial regions is particularly challenging. This case study examines Grant and Chelan Counties, two industrial farming regions in rural Central Washington State, distant from the urban fringe. Farmers in these counties have tried diversifying large-scale processing into organics and marketing niche and organic produce at popular farmers markets in Seattle about 200 miles away. Such strategies invoke the question, “How are ‘local’ agri-food networks socially and geographically defined?” The meaning of what constitutes “local” and/or “sustainable” systems merits consideration in the linking of these rural counties with distant urban farmers markets. Employing historical, in-depth interview and survey research, we analyze production and consumption networks and the non-market systems that residents in these counties access for self-provisioning and food security.     

社区支持农业（CSA）——推动城乡一体化发展的绿色之路

社区支持农业（Community Supported Agriculture,以下简称：CSA）是一种新型的农业生产及销售模式,农业生产者与消费者之间达成合作关系,由消费者提前支付农业生产费用或参与农业生产劳动,农户则保证定期向消费者提供安全的农产品,双方之间“利益共享,风险共担”.CSA提侣有机生产,侣导互助合作,具有良好的经济、生态和社会效益.当今我国正处于城市化高速发展阶段,城乡二元结构带来的城乡发展不平衡,城市扩张带来的耕地减少、生态破坏、农民失地,产业化生产带来的食品安全、小农生产生存空间被压缩等问题引起了社会的广泛关注.如何在城市化高速发展的同时,处理好“三农”发展问题,最终实现城乡发展的一体化和可持续？对于该问题,CSA模式不失为一种有益的探索.本文主要分三个部分来进行相关问题的探讨,即：CSA的概念,当前我国城乡发展中出现的问题,以及CSA模式在城乡发展中的作用.     

Community shared agriculture

Community shared agriculture is a concept that brings food producers and consumers together in a relationship that supports values associated with sustainable agriculture, community development, and food security. At the heart of the concept is the notion of sharing. Participants share the real costs of food production through fair prices for the farmer and by assuming part of the risk of poor harvests. They also share the rewards that come through a seasons supply of fresh produce, the development of fellowship, and the knowledge that they are part of an effort to “think globally, act locally.”     

小流域系统土地生产力综合评价

该文遵照指标体系的构建原则,在构建了小流域系统土地生产力评估指标体系,并确立了各指标计算方法的基础上,运用层次分析法对宁夏西吉县黄家二岔小流域系统的土地生产力进行了综合评价．黄家二岔小流域经过“六五”、“七五”和“八五”综合治理,除生产力、均衡性、稳定性和持续性指标值呈增长的趋势外,综合评价值也呈增长的趋势．作者认为黄家二岔小流域的生态经济和社会复合系统,正在向持续、稳定和协调的状态发展．随着小流域生态子系统、经济子系统和社会子系统的结构和功能的进一步完善和提高,必将取得更加显著的治理效益．同时证明了小流域治理综合措施的实施对土地生产潜力开发的效果．     

浅析湖南省不同区域农村集体土地征收权益保障现状及对策

以湖南省11个县（市、区）11个村的250份调查问卷为基础,将所选样本分为大都市郊区、县城郊区、一般农区、边远山区4个区域,对4个区域的农村集体土地征收权益保障现状进行分析,发现存在农民参与程度低、土地补偿不合理、安置保障不到位等问题。为保障农民权益,提出了增强农民法制观念及了解政策的意识、完善土地征收补偿费标准、优化收益分配机制、建立失地农民社会保障体系、实现多元化的补偿安置方式等相应对策。     

Matters of scale and the politics of the Food Safety Modernization Act

Signed into law in early 2011, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) marked the first major overhaul of the United States?? regulatory system for food safety since the 1930s. This presidential address explores how the social movement for local and regional food systems influenced the debates around the FSMA and, in particular, how issues of scale became pivotal in those debates. Specifically, a key question revolved around whether or not the proposed regulations should apply to small farms and processors who sell directly to consumers in local markets. Advocates of the so-called ??Tester amendment?? aimed to create a scale-sensitive alternative to the requirements in the bill. This address lays out the three interrelated arguments that amendment advocates used. The first was the idea that food safety risks are different at different scales, and therefore the rules should reflect those differences. Their second argument revolved around the character of the local, direct markets of small producers and the social relationships embedded within them. The third argument used to support the Tester amendment is that the costs of complying with the detailed regulatory requirements of the new food safety law place a disproportionately large burden on small producers and that might thwart the emerging market for local food as an alternative to industrial agriculture. I conclude by suggesting some research and policy questions that could be explored more fully, both with respect to this case and with respect to alternative agri-food movements more generally.     

“Our market is our community”: women farmers and civic agriculture in Pennsylvania,USA

Civic agriculture is characterized in the literature as complementary and embedded social and economic strategies that provide economic benefits to farmers at the same time that they ostensibly provide socio-environmental benefits to the community. This paper presents some ways in which women farmers practice civic agriculture. The data come from in-depth interviews with women practicing agriculture in Pennsylvania. Some of the strategies women farmers use to make a living from the farm have little to do with food or agricultural products, but all are a product of the process of providing a living for farmers while meeting a social need in the community. Most of the women in our study also connect their business practices to their gender identity in rural and agricultural communities, and redefine successful farming in opposition to traditional views of economic rationality.     

Beef with environmental and quality attributes: Preferences of environmental group and general population consumers in Saskatchewan, Canada

We attempt to quantify and qualify the preferences of consumers for beef with a number of environmental and food quality attributes. Our goal is to evaluate the viability of a proposed food co-operative based in the Wood River watershed of southern Saskatchewan, Canada. The food co-operative was designed to provide a price premium to producers who adopted alternative management practices. In addition, the study evaluated the acceptance of a proposed food co-operative by consumer that had environmental interests as compared to the general population. Conjoint analysis was used to determine the trade-off and relative value of beef with the following production and purchasing characteristics: (a) use of hormones, antibiotics and vaccination in production; (b) method of obtaining the beef including monthly or yearly purchase contracts or a local market; (c) price relative to beef purchased from the local grocery store; and (d) impact on the river ecosystem. Consumers from environmental groups had stronger environmental and food quality preferences than individuals from the general population. However, consumers from both groups expressed a willingness to pay higher prices for food that had these attributes. It was uncertain whether the magnitude of the premium, in combination with a desire not to enter a long-term purchasing commitment, would be large enough to encourage farmers to adopt the alternative management. Ken W. Belcher is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Saskatchewan. His research has focused on ecological economics and environmental policy with a particular interest in environmental conservation in agricultural landscapes. Andrea E. Germann was a Research Assistant with the Centre for Studies in Agriculture, Law and the Environment at the University of Saskatchewan. Josef K. Schmutz is a Research Fellow with the Centre for Studies in Agriculture, Law and the Environment. Joe has expanded his research interest on prairie raptors by fostering strategic design for alternative, local economies that include the conservation of birds and their ecosystems.     

征地中需要处理好的几个矛盾——以重庆市江北区为例

针对失地农民经济补偿过低和安置不充分问题,以江北区为例,对征用补偿和社会保障问题提出了相关建议。     

Civic agriculture and community engagement

Several scholars have claimed that small-scale agriculture in which farmers sell goods to the local market has the potential to strengthen social ties and a sense of community, a phenomenon referred to as “civic agriculture.” Proponents see promise in the increase in the number of community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, farmers markets, and other locally orientated distribution systems as well as the growing interest among consumers for buying locally produced goods. Yet others have suggested that these novel or reborn distribution mechanisms are still primarily means of instrumental economic exchange and that optimistic characterizations of a renewed sense of community emerging from these practices are unfounded. This study provides an empirical assessment of the extent to which these community-based agriculture markets are associated with connection to community, volunteerism, and civic and political activities. In order to assess the relationship between civic agriculture and community engagement, we surveyed over 1,300 people in the Mid-Hudson region of New York State. The study design includes “civic agriculture participants” as the unit of analysis, defined as CSA farm members, shoppers at independent health food stores, and farmers market patrons. For comparison, a telephone survey of randomly selected residents of the region’s general population was also conducted. Unlike studies that focus solely on the perceptions of certain civic agriculture participants (e.g., CSA members), by comparing the perceptions and behaviors of those engaged in a range of civic agriculture practices, we are able to identify the effects of different forms of participation. The results demonstrate higher levels of voluntarism and engagement in local politics among civic agriculture participants relative to the general population. In addition, we found variation among those engaged in different forms of civic agriculture, with those immersed in more socially embedded forms of exchange demonstrating greater community and political involvement. These findings lend empirical support to the civic agriculture thesis.