Green Jobs in a Sustainable Food System

The U.S. food sector is among the most productive in the world and is a significant driver of our economy. Yet, it's failing us in major ways -- putting public health, livelihoods and our environment at great risk. Obesity and diabetes rates are rising, communities are plagued by food deserts, and agriculture runoff is the biggest source of pollution in our rivers and lakes.The good news is that communities across the country are addressing this crisis in innovative ways. Through different community-based efforts, local activists and food advocates are finding ways to improve community health and environmental outcomes while creating a more economically equitable food system.It is within this context that this report identifies opportunities to transform jobs in the green economy and enhance environmental and economic equity outcomes in the future. The initial analysis promises opportunities for workers to build long-term skills, and emphasizes the importance of linking local efforts to broader regional and national policy platforms. This multi-level engagement and collaboration will help set in motion the systemic changes needed to create a more sustainable and equitable food system

International expansion and buyer-driven commodity chain: the case of TESCO

This paper is prepared within the project ‘The Emerging Industrial Architecture of the Wider Europe; the Co-evolution of Industrial and Political Structures ’ funded by the ESRC programme ‘One Europe or Several?’ * Authors would like to thank Nick von Tunzelmann for his valuable comments in earlier draft versions. Following the collapse of Communism, central European countries have experienced an invasion of foreign investment in many sectors. The sectors that target consumers directly have found an opportunity to gain market share with considerable long-term profit potential. Thus, investments by western retailers are quite large when compared to other industries1. These multinational

Impacts of Agrifood Market Transformation during Globalization on the Poor's Rural Nonfarm Employment: Lessons for Rural Business Development Programs

This paper presents emerging evidence pointing to the transmission to developing countries' rural spaces of the impacts of agrifood market transformation occurring at national and global levels. That transmission takes place via retail chains penetrating intermediate cities and rural towns, and urban-based food manufacturers selling products to those chains as well as to traditional shops. The paper presents and justifies three main hypotheses concerning the impacts of that penetration. (1) The direct effect is that the modern retailers and modern-sector processed products directly compete with, and present potentially major challenges to, the processed foods, farm inputs, and commercial services already being undertaken in the RNFE sector by the rural poor among others. (2) The indirect effects is that modern sector firms tend, once they have "modernized" their procurement systems, to prefer larger suppliers if available, and/or small suppliers that have the requisite levels of capital assets. This further translates to a potential labor substitution bias, in particular of unskilled labor, although it may drive skilled labor demand. (3) The production and consumption linkage effects of the above impacts on RNFE firms, laborers, and farmers, all else equal, probably implies greater demand for non-tradeable goods and services in the RNFE that correspond to the demand patterns of the upper stratum of rural consumers. Faced with the above, what can business development programs do? (1) Given the change in the market context, it will be increasingly undesirable and "un-strategic," except in the most remote, hinterland areas, to maintain the separation between competitiveness and nonfarm employment programs. At least for RNF activities that supply processed products, farm inputs, and retail commerce, RNF enterprises will need to face the same general challenge that exporters in their country face on the global market, and urban firms face, which is to compete on cost and quality. (2) Second, maintaining the analogy to international competitiveness, it will be necessary go beyond a generic competitiveness approach, to employ a "customized competitiveness" strategy (a term used by Reardon and Flores 2006 for export programs, but applicable here). Such an approach focuses on understanding the specific requirements of transformed markets and building the capacity of particular groups to respond to those requirements (as suppliers) or match cost and quality and compete for specific niches. The capital assets that programs should building include market intelligence capital, organizational capital, technology capital, and financial (and risk reduction) capital. (3) In the economic transformation, this time in the rural space, the poorest, those with least assets, are again vulnerable. Special attention should be paid to equipping those households and firms to participate in the increasingly challenging rural nonfarm economy.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Re-investing in America's Infrastructure: Will it be Easy to be Green?

President-elect Obama has proposed major spending to revitalize America’s infrastructure. But how? First, where we have gone and where we are is the result of an historical co-evolution of public transportation infrastructure and private economic investment. Where we need to go is toward more efficient modes of transport that economize on fuel and energy use and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But how we get there is bounded to a significant degree by this past and present: what economists call “path-dependency.” Second, the historical evolution of public infrastructure has been important to the U.S. economy not simply because it supplemented private sector investments, but because the public investments raised private rates of return over time. National highways and bridges have made possible a shift in the carrying costs of inventory, one consequence of which has been to improve efficiencies in the delivery and availability of consumer goods. As more efficiencies in the use of scarce energy are sought economy-wide, business will be forced to find concentrations of activity along the nodes of supply chains that are more efficient. These adjustments can be facilitated by public infrastructure investments allowing for flexibility in intermodal transport activity, which can be a key aspect of the new administration’s national energy strategy. This brief discussion is divided into three parts: (1) the economics of infrastructure and its relationship to just-in-time inventory management; (2) an example drawn from the food industry case of fresh fruits and vegetables; (3) recommendations for a public investment strategy that maximizes the opportunities for efficiencies along the supply chain, thus conserving energy.Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Economics,

Impacts of Agrifood Market Transformation during Globalization on the Poor's Rural Nonfarm Employment: Lessons for Rural Business Development Programs

Consumer/Household Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Avoiding Asda? Exploring consumer motivations in local organic good networks

Supermarkets such as Asda (owned by Wal-Mart) have responded to the growth in direct marketing and alternative agri-food networks by promoting local produce ranges, and increasingly sourcing organic produce from the UK. Thus consumers now have a choice of outlets for local and organic produce. This paper examines the implications of that choice for direct marketing in particular, and sustainable consumption in general. The paper tests the hypothesis that consumers make a conscious choice to engage in an alternative food network when they purchase through direct marketing channels, and that they are deliberately avoiding mainstream supermarkets. Research findings are presented from a survey of customers of a local organic food cooperative in Norfolk, UK which examines consumer motivations and perceptions of alternative and mainstream food provisioning. The hypothesis is confirmed: consumers expressed wide-ranging preferences for participation in the alternative food system, though there is some concern that the convenience and accessibility of supermarket provision of local and organic food threaten to erode the wider social and community benefits achieved by direct marketing initiatives

Designing the Last Mile of the Supply Chain in Africa: Firm Expansion and Managerial Inferences from a Grocer Model of Location Decisions

The recent interest in the expansion of retail food chains and the perceived problems resulting from competition between these new, sophisticated supply chains and the most basic of food distribution networks in emerging economies have been greatly debated in the literature. This paper is a seminal approach to examining South-South food firm (grocer) foreign direct investment by incorporating data on the informal market into a facility location decision model. There are unique environmental complexities that developing/transitioning economies present. The unique finding of this model is that informal employment patterns, in both Agricultural and non-Agricultural sectors, influence the firm’s location. Given the absence of data, South-South foreign direct investment managers perceive avid market transactions as indicators of demand and potential supply availability in formal and informal sectors. For example, Pick n’ Pay’s CEO stated recently that their growth in the Southern Africa supermarket business is a direct result of the informal market converting to the formal market.Supply Chain, Africa, Informal Markets, Facility Location Model, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, Q10,

An analysis of the state of green business in the South African retail sector

'Green' business is claimed by some South African retailers even though they lack well-founded and integrated sustainable, social, and environmental commitments. This is because no standards of greening exist for retail in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to explore, 'What constitutes green retail in the South African supermarket sector?' This required investigation into the sustainability of the companies' green business processes, social component of sustainability, and the existing state of the green retail sector. The five dominant supermarkets were selected to answer a questionnaire based on different environmental variables and principles. Interviewee responses were supplemented with publicly available company reports and these were then critiqued by allocating a level of commitment to sustainability of companies' green business processes, social considerations of sustainability, and establishing the current state of the green retail sector. Results show that within business processes, sustainable procurement is becoming increasingly accounted for through eco-labels and enterprise development programs. Distribution processes assist in verifying green claims and production. Various international and local sustainability programs are used to validate green efforts in the lack of national standards. Best practice frameworks are being utilised in the absence of local green standards and where limited, some are creating their own innovative solutions. Sustainability is a core focus at an executive level to some to ensure full integration of sustainability. Retailers may not necessarily pursue trends, but they have similar pressures that are often variably addressed. Although retailers' attempts to green their operations may not be standardised, the retail industry in South African has almost privatised sustainability and socio-economic development as they have superseded legislation to contribute to society and transform communities. It is an opportunity for retailers to take responsibility for their operations and in doing so create innovative solutions that address South Africa's environmental and social issues, in spite of the lack of green standards and governmental regulation, and in doing so become leadership companies that are accountable to their consumer base