17 pages, Little is known about how farms and markets are connected. Identifying critical gaps and central hubs in food systems is of importance in addressing a variety of concerns, such as navigating rapid shifts in marketing practices as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and related food shortages. The constellation of growers and markets can also reinforce opportunities to shift growing and eating policies and practices with attention to addressing racial and income inequities in food system ownership and access. With this research, we compare network methods for measuring centrality and sociospatial orientations in food systems using two of America’s most high-producing agricultural counties. Though the counties are adjacent, we demonstrate that their community food systems have little overlap in contributing farms and markets. Our findings show that the community food system for Yolo County is tightly interwoven with Bay Area restaurants and farmers’ markets. The adjacent county, Sacramento, branded itself as America’s Farm-to-Fork capital in 2012 and possesses network hubs focused more on grocery stores and restaurants. In both counties, the most central actors differ and have been involved with the community food system for decades. Such findings have implications beyond the case studies, and we conclude with considerations for how our methods could be standardized in the national agricultural census.
Puspa, Jofi (author), Voigt, Tim (author), and Kuhl, Rainer (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2009
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C29846
Notes:
Pages 155-169 in Adam Lindgreen, Martin K. Hingley and Joelle Vanhamme (eds.), The crisis of food brands: sustaining safe, innovative and competitive food supply. Gower Publishing Limited, Surrey, England. 352 pages.
Eastwood, David B. (author / University of Tennesse. )
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
1997-07
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 106 Document Number: C09326
Notes:
Presented in a symposium, Change in the Retail Food Industry, at the Annual Meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association, Toronto, ON, Canada, July 1997
