Diverse characteristics of UK organic direct marketing chains

In the past few years, organic direct sales in the UK have grown rapidly. Direct sales are assumed to have short or distinct marketing chains from farm gate to consumer. This paper begins by outlining some current problems with the widely accepted defi nition of organic direct sales and charts some of their diverse characteristics. It goes on to argue that the mix of organic direct and multi-farm direct sales is so diverse that a greater clarification of terms is necessary in order to progress consumer, policy and research understanding

Explaining Regional and Local Differences in Organic Farming in England and Wales: A Comparison of South West Wales and South East England

Explaining regional and local differences in organic farming in England and Wales: a comparison of South West Wales and South East England, Regional Studies, Few studies explain the concentration of organic farming in specific regions of England and Wales. This paper compares the development of organic farming in South West Wales and South East England. While the focus in the former is on the use of mainly national marketing channels and the movement of organic produce more than 60 min from the farm, in the latter greater use is made of local and direct marketing channels to distribute organic food within 30 min of the farm. The overriding importance of demand appears to provide a key explanation for regional differentiation in organic farming. 解释英格兰与威尔斯有机农业的区域及地方差异：西南威尔斯与东南英格兰的比较研究，区域研究。显少有研究解释有机农业在英格兰及威尔斯特定区域中的集中现象。本文比较有机农业在西南威尔斯与东南英格兰的发展。西南威尔斯的发展重点，主要在于利用全国行销通路，以及距离农场超过六十分钟的有机产品运送路程，东南英格兰则较着重运用在地且直接的行销通路，在距离农场三十分钟以内的运送路程中分派有机食品。需求的压倒性重要性，似乎提供了有机农业中的区域差异的关键解释。 Expliquer les disparités régionales dans l'agriculture biologique en Angleterre et au pays de Galles: une comparaison du sud-ouest du pays de Galles et du sud-est de l'Angleterre, Regional Studies. Rares sont les études qui expliquent la concentration de l'agriculture biologique dans des zones spécifiques de l'Angleterre et du pays de Galles. Cet article cherche à comparer le développement de l'agriculture biologique du sud-ouest du pays de Galles à celle du sud-est de l'Angleterre. Tandis que celle-là met l'accent sur l'emploi des circuits commerciaux principalement nationaux et sur la distribution de la production agricole biologique à plus de 60 minutes de la ferme, celle-ci exploite davantage les circuits commerciaux locaux et directs pour distribuer les denrées alimentaires organiques dans un rayon de 30 minutes de la ferme. Il semble que l'importance primordiale de la demande constitue un facteur déterminant de la différenciation régionale de l'agriculture biologique. Erklärung der regionalen und lokalen Unterschiede bei der ökologischen Landwirtschaft in England und Wales: ein Vergleich zwischen Südwestwales und Südostengland, Regional Studies. Die Konzentration der ökologischen Landwirtschaft in bestimmten Regionen von England und Wales wird nur in wenigen Studien erklärt. In diesem Beitrag vergleichen wir die Entwicklung der ökologischen Landwirtschaft in Südwestwales mit der von Südostengland. Während in Südwestwales der Schwerpunkt auf den größtenteils landesweiten Absatzkanälen und dem Transport von ökologischen Lebensmitteln an mehr als 60 Minuten vom landwirtschaftlichen Betrieb entfernte Orte liegt, werden in Südostengland öfter lokale und direkte Absatzkanäle genutzt und die ökologischen Lebensmittel an bis zu 30 Minuten vom landwirtschaftlichen Betrieb entfernte Orte transportiert. Die wichtigste Erklärung für die regionalen Unterschiede bei der ökologischen Landwirtschaft scheinen in der vorrangigen Bedeutung der Nachfrage zu liegen. Explicación de las diferencias regionales y locales en la agricultura biológica de Inglaterra y Gales: comparación entre el suroeste de Gales y el sureste de Inglaterra, Regional Studies. En pocos estudios se explica la concentración de la agricultura biológica en regiones específicas de Inglaterra y Gales. En este artículo comparamos el desarrollo de la agricultura biológica en el suroeste de Gales y el sureste de Inglaterra. Mientras que en el suroeste de Gales se hace hincapié en el uso de canales mercantiles principalmente nacionales y el movimiento de productos biológicos a una distancia de más de 60 minutos de la explotación agrícola, en el sureste de Inglaterra se utilizan más los canales mercantiles locales y directos para distribuir alimentos biológicos a no más de 30 minutos de la explotación agrícola. Parece ser que la demanda es el motivo más importante para explicar las diferencias regionales en la agricultura biológica

The traditional food market and place: new insights into fresh food provisioning in England

This article adds to on-going debates about food provisioning in England and the relative positioning of supermarkets vis-à-vis other sources of fresh food. Arguing that traditional food markets have been neglected in the agri-food literature, the paper investigates the suggestion that they are at ‘a critical juncture’, with many in decline and others being (re-)gentrified for a wealthier type of customer. Theoretically, the article argues that the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ spaces and places of traditional food markets are tightly interwoven. It draws on database analysis and detailed findings from interviews with market managers, traders and shoppers conducted on markets in contrasting regions of England in the cities of Newcastle and Cambridge. The findings provide new insights by examining the connective spaces and places that link market actors and consumers as fresh food moves across the geographical regions and through the marketplace. Taking a relational view, the paper challenges the suggestion that traditional food markets are at ‘a critical juncture’, arguing that there are unique points of difference on how the traditional food market adapts to rapid retail change, according to its geography, history and the spatial and temporal tensions between traditional and modernised fresh food provisioning systems, and suggests the need for further in-depth research

'I am pleased to shop somewhere that is fighting the supermarkets a little bit' : A cultural political economy of alternative food networks

Peer reviewedPostprin

Relocalización de los sistemas de producción agro-alimentaria en la Union Europea

Despite globalising tendencies in food supply systems, there is a movement towards the relocalisation of food production and consumption. Such a movement relates to a range of factors and this paper examines attempts to encourage the relocalisation of food supply systems at international (EU) and national (UK) scales. Case studies of PDOs/PGIs and regional food groups show that efforts to link 'product to place' have, so far, had relatively little impact on local economic development, especially in those rural aseas marginalised by agricultural restructuring processes. More research is needed on the relocalisationof food supply systems, in relation to such concepts as social embeddedness, quality and certification, and endogenous rural development.A pesar de las tendencias mundializadoras vigentes en los sistemas agroalimentarios, hay todo un movimiento hacia lo que se ha dado en llamar relocalización de la producción y el consumo alimentarios. Tal movimiento se relaciona con un conjunto de factores y en este artículo se examinan los intentos para estimular tal relocalización de la producción alimentaria a escala internacional (Unión Europea) y nacional (Reino Unido). Los estudios de varios casos de denominaciones de origen protegida", de "indicaciones geográficas protegidas), así como de agrupaciones productivas regionales de diversa índole, ponen en evidencia que los esfuerzos para vincular los productos a los lugares., han tenido hasta la fecha un impacto relativamente escaso, especialmente en aquellas regiones marginadas por los procesos de reestructuración agraria. En todo caso se necesita investigar más sobre tales procesos, y especialmente en relación con conceptos como arraigo social, calidad y certificación, así como desarrollo rural endógeno

Regionalisation and the rescaling of agro-food governance: case study evidence from two English regions

Copyright © 2012 Elsevier. NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work accepted for publication by Elsevier. Changes resulting from the publishing process, including peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting and other quality control mechanisms, may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Political Geography, 2012, Vol. 31 Issue 2, pp. 83 – 93 DOI: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2011.10.007Some researchers detected a new-found subsidiarity in rural policy after England’s 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic, with regional and sub-regional institutions working together to implement an economic recovery strategy. While such research began to link debates on the new regionalism and the re-scaling of agro-food governance, its conception of the latter focused too narrowly on the ‘turn to quality’, thereby overlooking other important aspects of food relocalisation. Based on interviews conducted in England’s South West and West Midlands regions, this paper examines whether the attitudes of key actors from regional and sub-regional governance institutions provided a sound basis for partnership working on the food relocalisation policies recommended in the Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food. It finds different attitudes on the part of regional and sub-regional actors, with the former favouring regional foods and the latter local foods. Despite scepticism from both groups about the ability of the England Rural Development Programme (2000-2006) to promote food relocalisation, grants were awarded to both regional and local food entrepreneurs, suggesting that the programme contributed more to food relocalisation than previously thought

Analysis of socio-economic aspects of local and national organic farming markets; final report for Defra

The purpose of this study was to take a fresh look at the nature of organic production, consumption and marketing in England and Wales in order to better assess its current and likely contribution to rural development and its ability to meet consumer expectations. Based on a mixed methodological approach the study consulted with 2,300 individuals to reveal a complex and multi-dimensional sector with a highly committed consumer base. The research aimed to describe and account for: (1)The socio-economic impacts of the organic farm supply chains on rural development; (2)The extent to which organic food delivers consumer expectations; and (3) The barriers affecting conversion to organic farming and expansion of existing organic farms. The research reported here is arguably one of the most integrated studies of organic consumption, production and marketing conducted to date. It throws new light on the nature of organic consumption, underlining both the on-going commitment of the majority of committed organic consumers and the gap in perceptions, degrees of ‘brand trust’ and price sensitivity between this group and the majority of consumers who rarely or never buy organic. While this degree of commitment suggests that recent declines in organic consumption may not be sustained and will soon hit a floor, this finding also points to difficulties, particularly in a time of recession, in enrolling new consumers into organic networks, particularly via the direct marketing channels that smaller producers are more likely to depend on. This group of producers, locally embedded and linked to consumers via short supply chains, fulfil the expectations of many organic consumers and exemplify the idea of alternative food producers. Managed by self selecting, entrepreneurial farmers, these organic producers make a valuable contribution towards employment and income generation within the local rural economy. As our broader analysis of food chains and multiplier effects across the regional and national rural economy shows, however, it is the large scale producers, concerned with the production of bulk commodities and integrated into long supply chains, that inevitably account for the main rural employment and income benefits of the organic sector, if measured in aggregate terms. While there is a good case to be made for the rural development benefits of organic farming, it is important to recognise these scale effects and their geographically uneven distribution in any policy assessment.Organic markets, Organic farming, Organic consumers, Rural Economy, Multiplier Analysis, Simple Value Chains, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,