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Since the implementation of the National Organic Program in 2002, the US organic market has grown in both scale and scope, consequently placing pressure on the organic supply chain. The crucial role of matching consumer demand for final products with farm-level production falls to certified organic handlers, the intermediary firms that process, manufacture and distribute organic products. Locating certified organic commodities and products that meet their needs, in a timely manner, is costly and challenging. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A mixed-methods study was designed to better understand organic sector supply chain relationships in the USA. Data were collected from certified organic handlers via survey and semi-structured interviews. Those interviewed were randomly selected from 153 survey respondents who expressed an interest in being interviewed. This paper presents an analysis of interviews with 26 certified organic handlers regarding the relationships with their suppliers.

Three key concepts characterize the relationships between handlers and their suppliers: closeness, support and commitment. Nearly all handler supplier relationships possess some degree of closeness, where the handler expresses interest in their supplier. The relationships follow a spectrum of intensity, where the least engaged handlers provide little support and commitment, and the most engaged handlers provide support and commitment through a long-term relationship or contract.

Research into the organic supply chain is challenging to undertake, given the proprietary nature of the relationships. As the organic market continues to grow, the relationships along the supply chain will need to evolve to allow firms to meet consumer demand.

The organic trade literature in the USA makes strong claims about the relationship between income, ethnicity, and other factors and the likelihood of purchasing organic food products. However, previous economic research focusing on the socio‐economic characteristics of organic food consumers yields mixed findings. One explanation for the literature's inconsistent findings is that most studies rely on one specific product or one region of the country, or base their analysis on data collected from in‐store surveys. Another shortcoming in the existing literature is the failure to account for how access to organic food influences the likelihood of buying organic food. This paper's goal is to identify what is known, as well as what is not known, about consumers of organic food.

The paper extends the literature through the combination of a novel approach and unique dataset of US consumers, and addresses the relationship between demographic traits and the likelihood of buying organic food. The dataset consists of primary data recording all purchases of food as well as household demographic data, such as income, education, gender, and ethnicity, over a one‐year period for 44,000 households. The study uses different discrete choice models and multiple product categories to explore the likelihood of buying organic food from many angles, in order to assess the robustness of the statistical relationship between income, education, ethnicity, and other factors on the likelihood of buying organic food, as well as the frequency of buying organic food.

The results indicate that education has a strong effect on the likelihood of buying organic products, and that the impact of marital status, income, and access to organic are consistent across models. The findings also suggest that further research on the links between ethnicity and consumption of organic food is necessary.

One possible drawback to this dataset is that older, urban households are overrepresented, in comparison to the entire USA.

These findings will appeal to those interested in consumer behavior in addition to those interested in organic food consumption, from both the research and trade perspectives. The research indicates that access to organic food is an important determinant of the likelihood of a household buying organic food, the industry in the USA can expand sales by increasing consumer access to organic food.

This paper's unique contribution is the exploration of the robustness of the impact of different factors on the likelihood of buying organic food. The inclusion of access to organic food is also new to the literature, and as expected, households with greater access to organic food are more likely to purchase organic food.

Urban farming is becoming more common in the USA, as food-based entrepreneurs seek to make money farming in the city. Yet many urban farms are concerned with other factors in addition to food production, and thus have incorporated social goals into their missions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the social missions of urban farms in the USA, their extent, and explores differences and similarities among farms with varying missions.

The authors use primary data collected from a 2012 national survey of urban farmers in the USA. In total, 35 questions, covering the 2012 farm year, targeted production and marketing practices, risks and challenges, information and technical assistance needs, farm size and location, age of primary farmer, and farm characteristics. A multinomial logistic model was used to analyze the social missions of urban farms in the sample.

The authors find that food production is an essential part of the mission for all urban farms. Some farms have social missions, as well, which the survey results indicate are related to food security, education, and community building. The authors find that all urban farms, regardless of their mission, are relatively small and face similar challenges in terms of providing the primary farmer with a living. Farms with explicit social missions, relative to those with a strict market orientation, donate a higher share of food from their farm and are less likely to own farmland. Urban farms located in with lower median income are more likely to have social goals related to building community or improving security food security.

Urban agriculture is becoming more prevalent in many developed nations. At the same time, social entrepreneurship is gaining traction. Given the limited ability of urban farms in terms of food production, the social mission of urban farms arises as a possible explanation for the recent growth. This paper provides insight into a new phenomenon, and uses new data to provide insight into size, types of farms, and farmer well-being and address the social missions of urban farms in the USA.

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This article sets out to answer two interrelated questions: is it advisable for developing countries to use public procurement efforts for development, and should more developing countries join the World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)? We survey key arguments for and against joining the GPA, and argue that government procurement should not be seen only as an indirect support measure for development, but also as a direct vehicle for promoting innovation and industries and, thus, growth and development. We also show that using public procurement for development assumes high levels of policy capacity, which most developing countries lack. In addition, we show how the GPA as well as other WTO agreements make it complicated for the developing countries to benefit from public procurement for innovation. The article suggests that the developing countries could apply a mix of direct and indirect (so-called soft) public-procurement-for-innovation measures. In order to do this, developing countries need to develop the policy capacity to take advantage of the complex and multi-layered industrial policy space still available under WTO rules.

As one of the eight key competencies of life-long learning strategies identified by the European Union and the difficulties in enhancing the “sense of initiative and entrepreneurship”, the purpose of this paper is to propose a co-production approach to overcome several concerns.

An exploratory approach is used to analyse a single case study based on the EntreComp progression model and on a pedagogical approach consistent with the philosophy of learning through creating value for others.

The study introduces best novel practices that help enhance entrepreneurial education in primary school by engaging multiple local stakeholders in co-producing education. The case mainly shows that a co-production approach is appropriate to overcome challenges and assists policymakers to identify specific actions and make investments in entrepreneurship education (EE) at the primary level.

Theoretically, the study contributes to literature on entrepreneurial education and co-production studies. The main drawback of the study is its explorative analysis of a single case.

For practitioners, the research proposes stakeholder involvement as key to co-producing EE in primary schools, implying that policymakers should identify resources for projects and other similar initiatives.

The study elucidates the relevance of co-production approach to ensure early EE in school.