One of the basic problems in local organic food systems seems to be connected to food chains. The range of creative initiatives covers all thinkable fields: information about ecology, farmers' own activities in creating brands and labels, associations, developing ordering and delivery systems, processing, municipal help, marketing campaigns and so on

Kakriainen, Salla

von Essen, Hans

English

Organic Eprints

E K O L O G I S K T   L A N T B R U K   N R   4 4   •  D E C E M  B E R   2 0 0 5OBSTACLES ANDSOLUTIONS IN USEOF LOCAL ANDORGANIC FOODSalla Kakriainen & Hans von Essen (ed.)Centrum för uthålligt lantbrukBaltic Ecological Recycling Agriculture and Society (BERAS) Nr. 4ISSN 1102-6758ISRN SLU-EKBL-EL--29--SEISBN: 91-576-6858-2Antal sidor: 95Ämnesord/Key words: Organic farming, Organic food, Local food, Sustainability,Resource management, Food systems, Rural developmentEkologiskt lantbruk – 44Obstacles and Solutions in Use of Local and Organic FoodCentrum för uthålligt lantbrukSLUBox 7047750 07 UppsalaEcological Agriculture – 44Obstacles and Solutions in Use of Local and Organic FoodCentre for Sustainable AgricultureSwedish University of Agricultural SciencesS-750 07 UppsalaAuthors are responsible for the factual contents of the report.84       E K O L O G I S K T   L A N T B R U K   N R   4 4   •   D E C E M B E R   2 0 0 5P A R T  IIICONCLUSIONSIdentifying simple concrete activities seem to be a good way to startbringing about the desired changes. Because they are easy to underst-and it is also easy for others to join in and support them. Complicatedstructures are often unapproachable. Because the situation in each coun-try (and indeed in each community) differs, the needs, opportunitiesand ideas for promoting the use of local organic food vary greatly.Despite these differences there also seem to be some common aspects.One of the basic problems in local organic food systems seems to beconnected to food chains. In Sweden and Finland local food chains haveoften been replaced by complex international centralized industrialsystems. The challenge in these countries is how local chains can berevived. In Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, on the other hand, many ofthese local food chains still exist. In these countries the question is howthey can be supported.Finding a way to begin to act for local and organic food is difficult.Where to start? What to do? The cases in this report show that almostall of them have single persons as initiators in the background. Thatgoes for the Polish eco museum as well as the Swedish bag of groceriesand the Finnish local food purchasing development in the Kauhajokimunicipal kitchen. Talking about the idea and finding ways to startpushing it forward with other people can, in the end, make a bigdifference.As the obstacles for development vary in different places thesolutions also vary. The range of creative initiatives covers all thinkablefields: information about ecology, farmers’ own activities in creatingbrands and labels, associations, developing ordering and deliverysystems, processing, municipal help, marketing campaigns and so on.It seems to be much about connections and contacts. When an idea isborn, it needs some time to develop, and for more people find out aboutit and support it. Active persons further develop the idea bycommunicating with others. Communication is important in thedevelopment phase (so that the idea will contribute to meeting theneeds), a new innovation needs to find its own connections - a contactnet of individuals who understand the advantages and support it.During the implementation it is important to inform different partiesso that everyone knows the situation and latest development.Communication is needed also when there is an apparent lack ofsolutions. Most likely there is an initiative somewhere that has dealtwith similar problems and can provide inspiration about how to moveahead. In other words, good communication is a prerequisite for success.The local label in Juva and the concept Farmers’ Own are alsoidentity building projects. Alternative food systems like local organicfood are competing with the large food industry. One of the differencesbetween these is that alternative systems wish to maintain or re-establishSalla Kakriainenand Hans von Essen85P A R T  IIIa relationship between the consumer and the producer whereas in thefood industry this relationship is lost. These initiatives help both to builda direct relationship between the producer and consumer and to informconsumers where products come from.All farmers do not have the time, interest or possibility to be atmarket places and many customers who wish to buy local organicproducts want to be able to purchase them in grocery stores and supermarkets. This goes especially for institutional units (e.g. institutionalkitchens and restaurants). For such situations a middleman can be veryuseful. When the middleman has clear guidelines for the activities, thecustomers get trust and can utilise the services. Also the farmers canconcentrate on their main primary tasks and leave the marketing toexperts.Local organic food can also be seen as one embodiment ofsustainable rural development. Development issues are complex andinvolve many different aspects. All of these connections are not alwayseasily seen but still they are there. For example, at first it may seemirrational for a municipality to spend more money to buy moreexpensive locally produced organic food. However when looked at inits entirety, the investment may pay back in terms of increasedemployment opportunities, more tax paying citizens and more profi-table small scale production in the municipality.It is important for the EU commission, for the prime ministers inEurope and other top-level decision makers to understand that a realgrass-root process for sustainable development in Europe is under way.Exchange and information sharing projects such as BERAS can createpositive dynamics making local initiatives more visible and speedingup the positive changes needed for an ecologically, economically andsocially sustainable society.ReferencesSoil Association local food works and producer services. YorkshireOrganic Centre. Developing the public procurement market fororganic local produce – a case study from Yorkshire (2004). www.localfoodworks.org.Kallioniemi, Marja (ed.) (1998). Kolmisäikeinen köysi ei katkea.Tapausesimerkkejä maatilojen välisestä yhteistyöstä. Universityof Helsinki, julkaisuja 20; Mikkeli.Seppänen Laura (ed.) (2004). Local and Organic Food and Farming Aro-und the Baltic Sea. Ecological agriculture No 40. Centre forSustainable Agriculture; Uppsala.Söderberg, Bengt (2005). In En strategi för överlevnad. Förbundet Sve-riges småbrukare.Personal communicationHigson, John, May 2005.

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