Exploring the contribution of alternative food networks to food security. A comparative analysis

[EN] Food (in)security has become a challenge not only for developing economies but also for High Income Countries. In parallel, food scholars have actively investigated the contribution of alternative food networks (AFNs) to the development of more sustainable and just food systems, paying attention to drivers, initiatives and policies supporting the development of alternatives to the dominant industrialised food system and its detrimental environmental and socio-economic impacts. However, few studies have directly addressed the contribution of AFNs to food security in the Global North. This paper aims to establish new linkages between food security debates and critical AFNs literature. For that purpose, we conduct a place-based approach to food security in a comparative analysis of initiatives of three different European contexts: Cardiff city-region (UK), the Flemish Region (Belgium) and the peri-urban area of the city of Valencia (Spain). The results unfold: i) how AFNs weave a more localised socio-economic fabric that creates new relationships between food security outcomes and specific territories, ii) hybridization processes within alternative but also conventional systems and iii) the role of advocacy and collective action at different levels. The analysis allows identification of key elements on which food security debates hinge and provides new insights to ground conceptual discussions on territorial and place-based food security approaches.This research is part of the project "Assessment of the impact of global drivers of change on Europe's food security" (TRANSMANGO), granted by the EU under 7th Framework Programme; theme KBBE.2013.2.5-01; Grant agreement no: 613532. Dr. Ana Moragues-Faus also acknowledges the funding of the European Commission and the Welsh Government that currently supports her Ser Cymru fellowship. These results reflect only the authors' view; the funders are not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.Cerrada-Serra, P.; Moragues-Faus, A.; Zwart, TA.; Adlerova, B.; Ortiz-Miranda, D.; Avermaete, T. (2018). Exploring the contribution of alternative food networks to food security. A comparative analysis. Food Security. 10(6):1371-1388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0860-xS13711388106Arcuri, S., Brunori, G., & Galli, F. (2017). Insights on the role of private and public actors in food assistance provision: A literature review for high income countries. Economia agro-alimentare. https://doi.org/10.3280/ECAG2017-001006 .Barca, F., McCann, P., & Rodríguez-Pose, A. (2012). The case for regional development intervetion: Place-based versus place-neutral approaches. Journal of Regional Science, 52, 134–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9787.2011.00756.x .Bauler, T., Mutombo, E., van Gameren, V., Crivits, M., Paredis, E., Boulanger, P., . . . Ruwet, C., (2011). Construction of scenarios and exploration of transition pathways for sustainable consumption patterns. Brussels: Belgian Science Policy.Brown, J. C., & Purcell, M. (2005). There’s nothing inherent about scale: Political ecology, the local trap, and the politics of development in the Brazilian Amazon. Geoforum, 36, 607–624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.09.001 .Bourne, N. (2012) Fruit and vegetable community co-ops rise to 350 in Wales, BBC Wales News, Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17938418 . Accessed Sept 2017.Brunori, G., Malandrin, V., & Rossi, A. (2013). Trade-off or convergence? The role of food security in the evolution of food discourse in Italy. Journal of Rural Studies, 29, 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2012.01.013 .Cistulli, V., Rodríguez-Pose, A., Escobar, G., Marta, S., & Schejtman, A. (2014). Addressing food security and nutrition by means of a territorial approach. Food Security, 6, 879–894. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-014-0395-8 .Clay, E. (2002). Food security; concept and measurement. Paper for FAO expert consultation on trade and food security: Conceptualising the linkages. Rome http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4671e/y4671e06.htm . Accessed Sept 2017.Cox, I. (2015). Interim report: Adding value and demonstrating sustainable development in the community food co-ops in Wales, EcoStudio.Crivits, M., & Paredis, E. (2013). Designing an explanatory practice framework: Local food systems as a case. Journal of Consumer Culture, 13, 306–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540513484321joc.sagepub.com .CSM (2016). Connecting small-holders to farmers: an analytical guide.Dedeurwaedere, T., de Schutter, O., Hudon, M., Mathijs, E., Annaert, B., Avermaete, T., et al. (2015). Working paper: Social enterprise based transition movements between transformation and reform. The case of transition initiatives in local food networks. BRAIN-be. Food4Sustainability annual report 2. Deliverable 2.2.Dixon, J., & Richards, C. (2016). On food security and alternative food networks: Understanding and performing food security in the context of urban bias. Agriculture and Human Values, 33, 191–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-015-9630-y .Ekers, M., Levkoe, C. Z., Walker, S., & Dale, B. (2015). Will work for food: Agricultural interns, apprentices, volunteers, and the agrarian question. Agriculture and Human Values, 33, 705–720. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-015-9660-5 .Elliott, E., Parry, O., Ashdown-Lambert, J. (2004). Evaluation of community food co-ops, Working Paper 85, Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.FAO (1998). Report: Sustaining agricultural biodiversity and agro-ecosystem functions. http://www.fao.org/sd/EPdirect/EPre0080.htm . Accessed Nov 2017.FAO (2001). Report: The state of food insecurity in the world. http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/y1500e/y1500e00.htm . Accessed Nov 2017.Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2006). A postcapitalist politics. Minessota: University of Minnesota Press.Goodman, M. K. (2004). Reading fair trade: Political ecological imaginary and the moral economy of fair trade foods. Political Geography, 23, 891–915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2004.05.013 .Goodman, D., DuPuis, E.M., Goodman, M.K. (2012). Alternative food networks: Knowledge, place and politics. Routledge, Oxon, New York. ISBN: 9780203804520.Goodman, D., DuPuis, E. M., & Goodman, M. K. (2013). Engaging alternative food networks: Commentaries and research agendas. International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 20, 425–431.Guinot, E. (2008) El paisaje de la Huerta de Valencia. Elementos de interpretación de su morfología espacial de origen medieval. Historia de la Ciudad V. Tradición y progreso, 98–111. Valencia: Icaro-Colegio Territorial de Arquitectos de Valencia-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia.Guthman, J. (2004). Agrarian dreams: The paradox of organic farming in California. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN-10: 0520240952.Hubeau, M., Coteur, I., Mondelaers, K., & Marchand, F. (2015). Systeembeschrijving van het Vlaamse Landbouw- en Voedingssysteem: een nulmeting. Merelbeke, Belgie: ILVO.Ilbery, B., & Maye, D. (2005). Alternative (shorter) food supply chains and specialist livestock products in the Scottish - English borders. Environment and Planning, 37, 823–844. https://doi.org/10.1068/a3717 .IPCC (2012). Glossary of terms. In C. B. Field, V. Barros, T. F. Stocker, D. Qin, D. J. Dokken, K. L. Ebi et al. (Eds.), Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), (pp. 555–564). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Jarosz, L. (2007). The city in the country: Growing alternative food networks in metropolitan areas. Journal of Rural Studies, 24, 231–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2007.10.002 .Jones, I. (2012). Evaluation of the community food co-operative programme in Wales, BMG research, Welsh Government social research, 22/2012.Kirwan, J., & Maye, D. (2013). Food security framings within the UK and the integration of local food systems. Journal of Rural Studies, 29, 91–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2012.03.002 .Lamine, C. (2015). Sustainability and resilience in Agrifood systems: Reconnecting agriculture, food and the environment. Sociologia Ruralis, 55, 41–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12061 .Loopstra, R., Reeves, A., McKee, M., & Stuckler, D. (2016). Food insecurity and social protection in Europe: Quasi-natural experiment of Europe’s great recessions 2004–2012. Preventive Medicine, 89, 44–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.05.010 .MacMillan, T., & Dowler, E. (2012). Just and sustainable? Examining the rhetoric and potential realities of UK food security. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 25, 181–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-011-9304-8 .Marsden, T., Banks, J., Bristow, G. (2000). Food supply chain approaches: exploring their role in rural development. Sociologia Ruralis, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9523.00158Maxwell, S. (1996). Food security: A post-modern perspective. Food Policy, 21, 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-9192(95)00074-7 .Mooney, P.H., Hunt, S.A. (2009). Food security: The elaboration of contested claims to a consensus frame. Sociologia Ruralis. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1549-0831.2009.tb00701.x .Moragues-Faus, A. (2016). Participative action research: Transforming Cardiff’s food system through students’ live projects. Report available at http://foodcardiff.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Report-live-projects-2016-cut-.pdf. . Accessed Sept 2017.Moragues-Faus, A. (2017a). Emancipatory or neoliberal food politics? Exploring the “politics of collectivity” of buying groups in the search for egalitarian food democracies. Antipode, 49, 455–476. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12274 .Moragues-Faus, A. (2017b). Problematising justice definitions in public food security debates: Towards global and participative food justices. Geoforum, 84, 95–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.06.007 .Moragues-Faus, A., & Marsden, T. (2017). The political ecology of food: Carving “spaces of possibility” in a new research agenda. Journal of Rural Studies, 55, 275–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.08.016 .Moragues-Faus, A., Sonnino, R., 2012. Embedding quality in the agro-food system: The dynamics and implications of place-making strategies in the olive oil sector of alto Palancia, Spain. Sociologia Ruralis, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9523.2011.00558.x .Morgan, K., & Sonnino, R. (2010). The urban foodscape: World cities and the new food equation. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 3, 209–224. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsq007 .Murdoch, J., & Miele, M. (1999). “Back to nature”: Changing “worlds of production” in the food sector. Sociologia Ruralis, 39, 465–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9523.00119 .Murdoch, J., Marsden, T., & Banks, J. (2000). Quality, nature, and embeddedness: Some theoretical considerations in the context of the food sector. Economic Geography, 76, 107–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-8287.2000.tb00136.x .OECD, FAO, UNCDF (2016). Adopting a territorial approach to food security and nutrition policy. Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264257108-en .Ortiz-Miranda, D., Moragues-Faus, A.M., 2014. Governing fair trade coffee supply: dynamics and challenges in small farmers’ organizations. Sustainable Development, https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1570 .Oxfam and Church Action. (2013). Walking the breadline: The scandal of food poverty in 21st-century Britain. http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/walking-the-breadline-the-scandal-of-food-poverty-in-21st-century-britain-292978 . Accessed 19 August 2014.Padel, S., & Foster, C. (2005). Exploring the gap between attitudes and behaviour: Understandingwhy consumers buy or do not buy organic food. British Food Journal, 107, 606–625. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700510611002 .Radhika Ch., Hemantha U., 2017. Research study on nutrition security and equity in its access in watershed development programmes. Research reports series 107. National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj. ISBN 978-93-84503-81-9.Renting, H., Marsden, T. K., & Banks, J. (2003). Understanding alternative food networks: Exploring the role of short food supply chains in rural development. Environment and Planning, 35, 393–411. https://doi.org/10.1068/a3510 .Renting, H., Schermer, M., & Rossi, A. (2012). Building food democracy: Exploring civic food networks and newly emerging forms of food citizenship. International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 19, 289–307.Romero, J., & Francés, M. (Eds.). (2012). La Huerta de Valencia. Un paisaje cultural con futuro incierto. Valencia: Publicaciones de la Universitat de València.Sage, C. (2003). Social embeddedness and relations of regard: Alternative “good food” networks in south-West Ireland. Journal of Rural Studies, 19, 47–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0743-0167(02)00044-X .Sonnino, R., & Marsden, T. (2006). Beyond the divide: Rethinking relationships between alternative and conventional food networks in Europe. Journal of Economic Geography, 6, 181–199. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbi006 .Sonnino, R., Marsden, T., & Moragues-Faus, A. (2016). Relationalities and convergences in food security narratives: Towards a place-based approach. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 41, 477–489. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12137 .Soriano i Piqueras, V. (2015). La huerta de Valencia un paisaje menguante. Amazon. ISBN-13: 978-1512009231.Stanners, D., & Bourdeau, P. (1995). Europe’s environment: The Dobris assessment. Copenhagen: European Environmental Agency.Tregear, A. (2011). Progressing knowledge in alternative and local food networks: Critical reflections and a research agenda. Journal of Rural Studies, 27, 419–430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2011.06.003 .Valencia City Council. (2016). Department of Agricultura and Huerta (ongoing review). Pla d’Acció Integral per a la promoció de l’activitat i el territori agrícola municipal. https://hortaipoblesvalencia.org/es/agricultura-y-huerta/ . Accessed Jan 2018.Van Gameren, V., Ruwet, C., & Bauler, T. (2015). Towards a governance of sustainable consumption transitions: How institutional factors influence emerging local food systems in Belgium. Local Environment: The international journal of justice and sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2013.872090 .Venn, L., Kneafsey, M., Holloway, L., Cox, R., Dowler, E., & Tuomainen, H. (2006). Researching European “alternative” food networks: Some methodological considerations. Area, 38, 248–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4762.2006.00694.x .Vervoort, J., Thornton, P. K., Kristjanson, P., et al. (2014). Challenges to scenario-guided adaptive action on food security under climate change. Global Environmental Change, 28, 383–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.03.001 .Weingartner L. (2005). Paper I. The concept of food and nutrition security. In: Klennert K, editor. Achieving food and nutrition security: Actions to meet the global challenge: A training course reader. Feldafing: German Society for International Cooperation; p. 3–28. ISBN 3-937235 -71-X.Whatmore, S., Stassart, P., & Renting, H. (2003). What’s alternative about alternative food networks? Environment and Planning, 35, 389–391. https://doi.org/10.1068/a3621 .Zwart, T. A., Mathijs, E., Avermaete, T. (2016). Can alternative food networks contribute to a transition towards sustainability in Flanders: Assessing the marketing functions of Voedselteams. Report available at http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/245069/files/BioeconWP_2016_04_submitted.pdf . Accessed Sept 2017

Onderzoek naar alternatieve voedselsystemen

Er is een groeiende interesse voor alternatieve voedselsystemen die producent en consument dichter bij elkaar brengen. Dat geldt voor West-Europa, in het algemeen, en gaat ook op voor Vlaanderen waar initiatieven als CSA, voedselteams en stadslandbouw steeds meer aandacht - en aanhang - krijgen. Er is duidelijk ruimte voor een alternatief voedselsysteem waar niet de landbouwproductiviteit centraal staat, maar dat veeleer tegemoet komt aan een aantal socio-economische problemen in onze Westerse samenleving: het groeiend aantal mensen met overgewicht, een stijgend aantal voedingsgerelateerde ziekten, armoede in de Vlaamse landbouw, voedselverspilling, het verdwijnen van groene ruimte, ... In deze tekst leggen we de focus op Vlaanderen, en de uitdagingen voor alternatieve voedselsystemen die consument en producent met elkaar verbinden. We vertrekken daarbij vanuit het standpunt van de onderzoeker, die wil begrijpen hoe deze systemen bijdragen tot een meer duurzaam voedselsysteem. De tekst beschouwt achtereenvolgens de verschillende niveaus waarbinnen alternatieve voedselsystemen opereren, een aantal theoretische invalshoeken, een overkoepelend conceptueel kader dat bruikbaar is voor lopend wetenschappelijk onderzoek en de daarmee samenhangende uitdagingen voor onderzoek in Vlaanderen.status: publishe

Innovation in small food firms

Internationalisation of the world food market, structural changes in the food chain, changing consumption patterns and the strengthening of food regulation lie on the basis of the fast developments in the food and drink industry. Facing increased competition, small food firms are generally limited in exploiting economies of scale. Alternatively, they are more likely to seek for strategies that are based on the introduction of new products, optimising processing, the reorganisation of management and the exploration of new markets in order to maximally fulfil the needs and wants of consumers. This research examined the dynamics of innovation in small food firms in the EU. Despite the excessive literature on the process of innovation, small food firms have seldom been selected as subject of innovation studies. On the contrary, most innovation studies focus on technological change in large firms of high technology industries where innovation is reflected in R&D expenditures and patent applications. Nevertheless, both policy makers and scientists agree on the crucial role that small food firms may play in the economic revitalisation of rural areas. In this sense, the thesis is an attempt to fill a real gap in much needed evidence based research. The conceptual framework of the research integrates seven concepts: firm characteristics, internal knowledge, public support, spatial embeddedness, external information, regional and national performance and innovation. The framework builds on different theories and paradigms in innovation literature. In order to verify the framework, a survey was carried out among 177 small food firms. The firms were located in six European regions in Belgium, the Republic of Ireland and the UK. The survey resulted in a unique dataset that captured various aspects of the innovation process in small food firms. The contribution of the study is threefold. First, the research provides a methodology to measure innovation in small food firms. In contrast with most previous work in this area, the research has succeeded in capturing the different aspects of innovation in small food firms. Using measures that go beyond the traditional indicators of innovation, the research shows that small food firms continuously innovate. Second, the research elaborates a model that highlights some of the key factors of the innovation process in small food firms. In this context, the analyses offer an insight in the driving forces of innovation in such firms. Thereby, it has been shown that innovation dynamics in small food firms have some similarities with the innovation process in most other industries. Nevertheless, it can not be ignored that as a whole the innovation process in small food firms differs substantially from the innovation process in large firms of both low and high technology industries. Third, the research gives an empirically based answer to some actual political questions with respect to innovation. The recommendations that are made concern both options to improve the current innovation policy towards small food firms as well as guidelines with respect to the implementation of public support programs.status: publishe

Theme A Technical Change, Corporate Dynamics and Innovation ON INNOVATION AND MEETING REGULATION THE CASE OF THE BELGIAN FOOD INDUSTRY

The food industry represents one of the most important industries in the Belgian economy. Over the last decades, however, the food sector faced dramatic changes. Internationalisation and the succession of food scares forced the food industry to introduce innovations. The core argument of this paper is that food manufacturing companies have responded to the changing environment through strategies that are not R&D based but do correspond to what is understood as innovation in the new economy. The paper therefor builds on literature in the domain of the new economy, economics and policies of the Belgian food industry and the principles of specific food innovations

Media Analyses on Food and Nutrition Security: National report Belgium

This report provides an overview of food and nutrition security in Flanders, based on information at the regional and – where regional data is lacking – at the national level for respectively Flanders and Belgium. The report is based on diverse sources covering the public media, agriculture oriented media, policy documents and scientific literature. The media analyses is based on publication from 2007 – 2014. Over 1000 articles were included and analysed using Nvivo.nrpages: 74status: publishe