Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2019, 65(6):259-269 | DOI: 10.17221/230/2018-AGRICECON

Alternative Food Networks (AFNs): Determinants for consumer and farmer participation in Lombardy, ItalyOriginal Paper

Stefano Corsi, Chiara Mazzocchi*
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

Scaling up supply chains in the interest of cost-effectiveness has led to an increasing disconnection between producers and consumers in today's globalised food system. This paper assesses the agricultural and territorial drivers that influence the development of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), where consumers and producers act together, by implementing an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression. The analysis was carried out at a municipal scale in Lombardy, in northern Italy. The territorial characteristics of the local areas were less important in explaining the level of consumer and producer participation in the alternative food networks, rather than the specific factors related to the agricultural sector.

Keywords: direct sale; short supply chain; participation approach

Published: June 30, 2019  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Corsi S, Mazzocchi C. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs): Determinants for consumer and farmer participation in Lombardy, Italy. Agric. Econ. - Czech. 2019;65(6):259-269. doi: 10.17221/230/2018-AGRICECON.
Download citation

References

  1. Akaike H. (1973): Information theory and an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In: Petrov B.N., Csáki F.: Proceedings 2nd International Symposium on Information Theory, Tsahkadsor, Armenia, USSR, September 2-8, 1971, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 267-281.
  2. Belasco W.J. (2014): Appetite for Change: How the Counterculture Took on the Food Industry. Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY, USA.
  3. Berning J.P. (2012): Access to local agriculture and weight outcomes. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 41:1-15. Go to original source...
  4. Bertoni D. (2015): La multifunzionalità nelle politiche regionali. In: Il Sistema agroalimentare della Lombardia, Rapporto 2015. FrancoAngeli, Milan. (in Italian)
  5. Bimbo F., Bonanno A., Nardone G., Viscecchia R. (2015): The hidden benefits of short food supply chains: Farmers' markets density and Body Mass Index in Italy. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 18: 1-16.
  6. Brinkley C. (2018): The small world of the alternative food network. Sustainability, 10: 2921. Go to original source...
  7. Campagna Amica (2018): Campagna Amica. Available at https://w w w.campagnamica.it/la-nostrarete/#taxonomy%3A2911%2C2987 (in Italian)
  8. Costanigro M., McFadden D.T., Kroll S., Nurse G. (2011): An in-store valuation of local and organic apples: The role of social desirability. Agribusiness, 27: 465-477. Go to original source...
  9. Denver S., Jensen J.D. (2014): Consumer preferences for organically and locally produced apples. Food Quality and Preference, 31: 129-134. Go to original source...
  10. Dusaf (2012): Lombardy Region databank. Available at http://www.geoportale.regione.lombardia.it/ (accessed Dec 31, 2018). (in Italian)
  11. Economiasolidale.net (2018): Economiasolidale.net. Available at http://www.economiasolidale.net/ (accessed Dec 31, 2018). (in Italian)
  12. Engelseth P. (2016): Developing exchange in short local foods supply chains. International Journal of Food System Dynamics, 7: 229-242.
  13. Feenstra G. (1997): Local food systems and sustainable communities. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 12: 28-36. Go to original source...
  14. Forssell S., Lankoski L. (2015): The sustainability promise of alternative food networks: an examination through "alternative" characteristics. Agriculture and Human Values, 32: 1-13. Go to original source...
  15. Hawkes C., Friel S., Lobstein T., Lang T. (2012): Linking agricultural policies with obesity and non-communicable diseases: A new perspective for a globalizing world. Food Policy, 37: 343-353. Go to original source...
  16. ISTAT Census of Agriculture (CA) (2010): Censimento dell'agricoltura. Available at http://dati-censimentoagricoltura.istat.it/Index.aspx (accessed Dec 31, 2018). (in Italian)
  17. ISTAT Census of Population (CP) (2011): Censimento della popolazione e delle abitazioni. Available at https://www.istat.it/it/censimenti-permanenti/censimenti-precedenti/popolazione-e-abitazioni/popolazione-2011 (accessed May 27, 2019). (in Italian)
  18. Kneafsey M., Venn L., Schmutz U., Balázs B., Trenchard L., Eyden-Wood T., Blackett M. (2013): Short food supply chains and local food systems in the EU. A state of play of their socio-economic characteristics. In: JRC Scientific and Policy Reports. Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.
  19. La Trobe H. (2001): Farmers' market: consuming local rural produce. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 25: 181-192. Go to original source...
  20. Martinez S., Hand M., Da Pra M., Pollack S., Ralston K., Smith T., Vogel S., Clark S., Lohr L., Low S., Newman C. (2010): Local Food Systems Concepts, Impacts and Issues. Economic Research Report No. 97. United State Department of Agriculture, USA.
  21. Mazzocchi C. (2015): Un progetto locale, verso il Martesana Food Council. In: Verso la Costituzione del Martesana Food Council, generazione di nuove politiche del cibo, integrate e partecipative. Hungry for Rights Martesana, Milan. (in Italian)
  22. Migliore G., Schifani G., Romeo P., Hashem S., Cembalo L. (2015): Are farmers in Alternative Food Networks social entrepreneurs? Evidence from a behavioral approach. Journal of Agricultural Environmental and Ethics, 28: 885-902. Go to original source...
  23. Monaco F., Zasada I., Wascher D., Glavan M., Pintar M., Schmutz U., Mazzocchi C., Corsi S., Sali G. (2017): Food Production and Consumption: City Regions between Localism, Agricultural Land Displacement, and Economic Competitiveness. Sustainability, 9: 1096. Go to original source...
  24. Mount P. (2012): Growing local food: scale and local food systems governance. Agriculture and Human Values, 29: 107-121. Go to original source...
  25. OD Lombardy Region (2012): Open Data of the Lombardy Region, Available at https://www.dati.lombardia.it/ (accessed 31/12/2018) (in Italian)
  26. Pfeifer C., Jongeneel R.A., Sonneveld M.P.W., Stoorvogel J.J. (2009): Landscape properties as drivers for farm diversification: A Dutch case study. Land Use Policy, 26: 1106-1115. Go to original source...
  27. Philips L. (2006): Food and globalization. Annual Review of Anthropology, 35: 37-57. Go to original source...
  28. Renting H., Marsden T., Banks J. (2003): Understanding alternative food networks: Exploring the role of short foodsupply chains in rural development. Environment and Planning A - Economy and Space, 35: 393-411. Go to original source...
  29. Rivaroli S., Bertazzoli A., Ghelfi R., Laghi A. (2016): Multifunctional farming in Emilia-Romagna region: an analysis through agricultural census data. New Medit, 2: 37-44.
  30. Ruggeri G., Mazzocchi C., Corsi S. (2016): Urban gardeners' motivations in a metropolitan city: The case of Milan. Sustainability, 8: 1099. Go to original source...
  31. Schwarz G.E. (1978): Estimating the dimension of a model. Annals of Statistics, 6 : 461-464. Go to original source...
  32. Siegrist M., Visschers V.H.M., Hartmann C. (2015): Factors influencing changes in sustainability perception of various food behaviors: Results of a longitudinal study. Food Quality and Preference, 46: 33-39. Go to original source...
  33. Tudisca S., Di Trapani A.M., Donia E., Sgroi F., Testa R. (2014): Role of alternative food networks in Sicilian farms. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 21: 179-192. Go to original source...
  34. Villamor G.B., Noordvijk M.V., Djanibekov U., Chiong-Javier M.E., Catacutan D. (2014): Gender differences in land use decisions: shaping multifunctional landscapes? Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 6: 128-133. Go to original source...
  35. Wubben E.F.M., Fondse M., Pascucci S. (2013): The importance of stakeholder-initiatives for business. Journal on Chain and Network Science, 13: 139-149. Go to original source...

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.