24 pages, Alternative food networks (AFN) are argued to provide platforms to re-socialize and re-spacealize food, establish and contribute to democratic participation in local food chains, and foster producer–consumer relations and trust. As one of the most recent examples of AFN, Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) have gained notable traction in attempting to redefine consumer-producer relations in the organic value chain. The participation of stakeholders, such as consumers, has been a key element theoretically differentiating PGS from other organic verification systems. While research on farmer participation in PGS is attracting interest, consumer participation is still widely overlooked. Using a mixed methods approach, this paper describes five PGS markets in Mexico, Chile and Bolivia. A survey was conducted with consumers in the PGS markets to explore their awareness of the PGS, how consumers participate in the PGS, and their level of trust in the respective PGS and its certified products. Results showed a low level of awareness of PGS among market consumers, few participation possibilities, and minimal consumer participation overall. Nevertheless, trust in organic quality was generally high. Consumers primarily relied on the direct relationship with producers and the PGS market itself as sources of trust. These results provide novel insight into PGS consumer-market interactions, and contribute to discussions concerning social embeddedness, awareness and participation within AFN.
8 pages, Street foods play an important role in the lives of urban population members in developing countries. The food industry provides many job opportunities. The food safety knowledge, attitude, and practices of vendors are important aspects, as these individuals provide food and nourishment at very low prices to people all over the world. Most street foods are unhealthy because of the high risk of contamination, which poses a serious threat to food safety. The present study aimed to assess the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of vendors and the most significant influencing factors of these aspects with the help of cluster analysis to categorize vendors. The present study focused on 100 vendors who were randomly selected from different locations in Lucknow city. The information was collected through a structured questionnaire using the KAP (Knowledge Attitude Practice) scale for food safety. Vendors were clustered on the basis of the KAP using two-step cluster analysis and a chi -square test to assess the impact of various personal factors on the KAP. The results of the study indicated that street vendors are significantly differentiated on the basis of qualifications, knowledge, attitude and practices. Awareness and training programs should be implemented to improve the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among vendors. Once food safety standards are acceptable, it will then be critical to ensure that poor people in developed cities such as Lucknow can earn a living through a "convenient" enterprise such as street food vending.
25 pages, We examine consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for foods packaged using active packaging which can be used to improve quality, shelf life, or safety of a range of products, potentially reducing the use of food additives (preservatives) and food waste. We administer an experimental survey of US food consumers (n = 2325) with five treatments. The surveys include contingent valuation exercises to assess consumer WTP for six products in active packaging relative to conventional packaging. We find that consumer acceptance of this technology is dependent on the product packaged and related directly to the specific relative benefit. In addition, consumer WTP is impacted by the framing of the technology in relation to other available technologies, information about the developer of the technology, and the degree of specificity of information regarding benefits. Notably, impacts of framing and use cases are primarily apparent among those who are resistant to the technology. A cluster analysis finds that those more likely to resist the technology include households that are lower income, less educated, and more likely to be white [EconLit citations: Q18, M31, D12, D83].
13 pages, An increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the German organic agri-food sector involves citizens through different community financing models. While such models provide alternative funding sources as well as marketing opportunities to SMEs, they allow private investors to combine their financial and ethical concerns by directly supporting the development of a more sustainable food system. Due to the low level of financial intermediation, community financing is characterized by close relations between investors and investees. Against this background, we apply the proximity concept from economic geography to explore spatial and relational aspects of community financing in the German organic agri-food sector. Based on a qualitative multiple case study approach, we find that the relevance of proximity is twofold. While different forms of proximity between SMEs and their potential investors are key success factors, proximity is also considered as one desired outcome of community financing. Furthermore, our results reveal that the extent to which SMEs rely on particular proximity dimensions distinguishes two different approaches to community financing.
17 pages, Short food supply chains have become the focus of considerable research in the last two decades. However, studies so far remain highly localized, and claims about the economic and social advantages of such channels for farmers are not backed by large-scale empirical evidence. Using a web survey of 613 direct-market farmers across Canada, this article explores the potential economic and social benefits that farmers derive from participating in short food supply chains. We used multivariate analysis to test whether a farmer’s degree of involvement in direct food channels is positively correlated with levels of work enjoyment, social satisfaction, and economic satisfaction. The results indicate that, overall, direct-market farmers report high levels of occupational satisfaction, although work-related challenges persist, such as stress, excessive workloads, and competition. Farmer participation in short food chains was also a positive predictor of work enjoyment and economic satisfaction, but not of social satisfaction, as measured by the share of total farm sales attributable to direct selling. Net annual farm revenue, the share of direct food sales involving a middleman, age, and gender also correlated with one or more dimensions of occupational satisfaction.
17 pages, Traditionally, dietary choices are formed through socialization, social norms and the social environment, while news media seemed to have little impact on people’s diets. This article explores whether today’s news media consumption and in particular consuming and sharing information about food on social media are associated with following a vegetarian or vegan diet. The data come from a tailor-made survey carried out in Hamburg, Germany, in 2018 (N = 1,214). Making use of probit regression with multiple equations, we analyse the associations between vegetarianism and individual news consumption, having vegetarians in the social environment, and communicating about food, controlling for individual and family characteristics. We find that both regular news consumption via social media and having vegetarian friends or family members is associated with pursuing a vegetarian diet. Moreover, news consumption via social media comes with increased communication about food, suggesting high relevance of social media for pursuing a vegetarian diet.
14 pages, Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the U.S. and other countries around the world saw a dramatic increase in the number of people starting pandemic gardens. In this article, the authors use rhetorical framing analysis to explore how news coverage of this gardening boom presented the illusion of control framed around the themes of economics, food sovereignty, physical and mental health, and community and connection. It concludes with a discussion of how these four themes offer an overly-optimistic view of gardening that deemphasizes sustainability, focuses on processes over harvests, and ignores food chain inequities.
