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1 – 10 of 690Daniele Eckert Matzembacher and Fábio Bittencourt Meira
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how sustainability integrates the business strategy of Brazilian community supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives, and to understand…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how sustainability integrates the business strategy of Brazilian community supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives, and to understand the social, environmental and economic benefits to producers and consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study was carried out through participant observation, using the techniques of ethnography, in addition to in-depth interviews and access to secondary data. Follow-up was carried out over two years and six months with two CSA initiatives.
Findings
The results indicated that the analyzed CSA activities address, in an integrated way, the social, environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability by promoting healthy diet, sustainable agriculture and social transformation to producers and consumers. Producers have their sales guaranteed due to previous consumers’ association; they also receive higher incomes, avoiding the rural exodus. In addition, their work conditions do not harm their health and the diversified production meets the consumption of their family group, increasing farmers’ autonomy. Regarding consumers, there is a strong emphasis on education for sustainability. It occurs primarily through face-to-face contact among participants, at times of basket withdrawal, follow-up visits to production and interaction events at farmers’ place. Exchanges of information, recipes, cooking classes, newsletters and internet interactions are also important. As these outputs, verified in a real situation, integrate the mission and the business proposal of these CSAs initiatives, it is possible to conclude that, in these analyzed situations, sustainability is incorporated into a business strategy. Sustainability is a structural component of the strategy, with practices in different levels of the business activity.
Research limitations/implications
As an exploratory study, the findings cannot be extrapolated to broader populations. To improve generalization, it would be beneficial to broaden the sample and pursue comparative research between countries and regions. Also, studies should examine which incentive structures and programs would relate more to better outcomes in education for sustainability and behavior chances.
Practical implications
From a managerial point of view, this study contributes by presenting emerging businesses in Brazil, which incorporated sustainability in their strategy, contributing with the need pointed out by Robinson (2004) to provide innovative and creative solutions toward sustainability. It also presents some alternatives to achieve objectives of the 2030 Agenda, especially objective 2 (related to food security) and 12 (improve sustainable production and consumption systems). This study also contributes by elucidating alternatives to promote education for sustainable consumption, presenting cases where consumers reported a more sustainable behavior.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by filling the gap pointed out by Arzu and Erkan (2010), Nakamba, Chan and Sharmina (2017), Rossi et al. (2017) and Searcy (2016) about addressing all three dimensions of sustainability in an integrated way, by analyzing CSA initiatives (a need indicated by Brown and Miller, 2008), especially evaluating empirical cases of sustainability insertion in the business strategy, as proposed by Claro, Claro and Amâncio (2008) and Franceschelli, Santoro and Candelo (2018). This study also responded to the need pointed out by Benites Lázaro and Gremaud (2016) to further understand the insertion of sustainability in the context of Latin America.
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Thomas W. Sproul, Jaclyn D. Kropp and Kyle D. Barr
Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs allow consumers to buy a share of a farm’s production while providing working capital and risk management benefits for farmers…
Abstract
Purpose
Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs allow consumers to buy a share of a farm’s production while providing working capital and risk management benefits for farmers. Several different types of CSA arrangements have emerged in the market with terms varying in the degree to which consumers share in the farm’s risk. No-arbitrage principles of futures and options pricing suggest that CSA shares should be priced to reflect the degree of risk transfer. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors evaluate the three most common share types using a cross-sectional data set of 226 CSA farms from New England to determine if there is empirical evidence in support of the theoretical price relationship between share types.
Findings
The degree of risk transfer from farmers to consumers has a significant effect on the share price. There are statistically significant returns to scale and higher prices for organics. Farm characteristics and product offerings predict which type of shares is offered for sale.
Research limitations/implications
The data set does not contain information pertaining to actual deliveries, expected deliveries, variance of expected deliveries, or covariance information; thus differences in share prices could be due to differences in these uncontrolled factors.
Originality/value
This paper provides empirical evidence that CSA share prices reflect the degree of risk transferred from the producer to the consumer. It also highlights challenges in conducting empirical work pertaining to CSA contracting.
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As a movement for alternative means of food production and consumption has grown, so, too, have civic efforts to make alternative food accessible to low-income persons (LIPs)…
Abstract
Purpose
As a movement for alternative means of food production and consumption has grown, so, too, have civic efforts to make alternative food accessible to low-income persons (LIPs). This article examines the impact of alternative food institutions (AFIs) on low-income communities in the United States and Canada, focusing on research published since 2008.
Methodology/approach
Through a three-stage literature search, I created a database of 110 articles that make empirical or theoretical contributions to scholarly knowledge on the relationship of AFIs to low-income communities in North America. I used an in vivo coding scheme to categorize the impacts that AFIs have on LIPs and to identify predominant barriers to LIPs’ engagement with AFIs.
Findings
The impacts of AFIs span seven outcome categories: food consumption, food access and security, food skills, economic, other health, civic, and neighborhood. Economic, social and cultural barriers impede LIPs’ engagement with AFIs. AFIs can promote positive health outcomes for low-income persons when they meet criteria for affordability, convenience and inclusivity.
Implications
This review exposes productive avenues of dialogue between health scholars and medical sociology and geography/environmental sociology. Health scholarship offers empirical support for consumer-focused solutions. Conversely, by constructively critiquing the neoliberal underpinnings of AFIs’ discourse and structure, geographers and sociologists supply health scholars with a language that may enable more systemic interventions.
Originality/value
This article is the first to synthesize research on five categories of alternative food institutions (farmers’ markets, CSAs, community gardens, urban farms, and food cooperatives) across disciplinary boundaries.
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The research illustrates the impact of young people shaping a community-based program.
Abstract
Purpose
The research illustrates the impact of young people shaping a community-based program.
Design/methodology/approach
From the perspective of a youth educator, this research uses participatory action research (PAR) in youth urban agriculture education.
Findings
Findings illustrate how youth-led programming creates new processes, revealing new educational opportunities. Outcomes of education programs are strengthened by engaging with students in ways that interest them.
Practical implications
Findings illustrate opportunities for social network bonding through community-based farm stands and challenges in social network bridging through Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs).
Originality/value
Previous articles have noted the need for practitioner perspective in youth education. Scholars have also noted the lack of research that assesses the role of youth urban agriculture programming to advance community engagement. This article contributes to both.
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Laura Witzling and Bret R. Shaw
This work aimed to show how farmers’ markets can act as communication infrastructure, and by doing so, facilitate civic engagement. We used communication infrastructure theory…
Abstract
Purpose
This work aimed to show how farmers’ markets can act as communication infrastructure, and by doing so, facilitate civic engagement. We used communication infrastructure theory (CIT) as a guide.
Design/methodology/approach
We integrated findings from two surveys that took place in the US state of Wisconsin. In a survey of Wisconsin farmers’ market leaders, we considered what features farmers’ markets have that may help them act as communication infrastructure. Using data from a survey of Wisconsin residents, we ran a regression model to demonstrate the relationship between farmers’ market attendance and micro-level storytelling about local food.
Findings
We found that farmers’ markets can act as meso-level storytellers and provide a communication action context supportive of civic engagement. Through the farmers’ market leader survey, we found that over half of the markets noted existing partnerships with media outlets. Furthermore, farmers’ markets may connect residents to important organizations in the community. Many farmers’ markets had features to make them more physically and financially accessible, such as accepting food assistance benefits. With the Wisconsin resident survey, we found that farmers’ market attendance predicted storytelling about local food better than overall local food purchasing, further suggesting that markets can facilitate social interactions.
Originality/value
We document an important benefit that farmers’ markets can offer communities: they have the potential to act as communication infrastructure. As stronger communication infrastructure can facilitate civic engagement, this work provides a mechanism by which to connect civic agriculture activities and increased levels of civic engagement.
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Food, notably its logistics, security, quality, sustainability and social inclusiveness, is increasingly considered as a crucial element in urban settings, deserving specific…
Abstract
Food, notably its logistics, security, quality, sustainability and social inclusiveness, is increasingly considered as a crucial element in urban settings, deserving specific institutional and strategic instruments. This is testified by the proliferation of urban food strategies, that is municipal strategic documents that various European cities have adopted during the last decade.
This chapter examines the emergence and diffusion of the concept in Europe, contextualizing it in connection with broader thesis on ‘alternative’ food systems, ‘new localism’ and ‘strategic planning’, in order to unpack how the notion has been constructed. The first part of the chapter reviews the existing literature on urban food strategies, by presenting the debate over the definition of the concept and discussing the normative stance of scholars in regard to ‘alternative’ practices.
After providing a working definition of urban food strategies, the second part presents an overview of their diffusion in Europe and briefly maps the historical diffusion of the model since the first appearance in Toronto in 2000.
The fast adoption of urban food strategies in different urban contexts suggests the necessity of further investigations on the motivations behind the cities’ drive towards food governance. In this sense, the chapter argues in favour of a more cautious assessment of food strategies on behalf of scholars, beyond the positive enthusiasm that has been so far connected to them. In particular, the chapter calls for a critique on the political implications of food strategies, which urgently need to be assessed within strategies of city branding, and to be tested on their actual consequences on urban regeneration and development processes.
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Ilona Liliána Birtalan, Ágnes Neulinger, György Bárdos, Adrien Rigó, József Rácz and Szilvia Boros
While many characteristics of food consumption have been examined, little attention has been given to the health potential of consuming from local food communities. Local food…
Abstract
Purpose
While many characteristics of food consumption have been examined, little attention has been given to the health potential of consuming from local food communities. Local food communities, including community supported agriculture (CSA) are food initiatives, which try to respond to the healthy food, environmental or socioeconomic challenges of the food system. As a step toward understanding local food communities, this study sets out to examine the health-related adaptivity and self-management practices of CSA participation.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative research approach, which included semi-structured interviews (n = 35), was designed to discover the potential for being healthy: the ability to adapt and to self-manage among CSA participants. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
The results suggest that local food communities can influence health-related adaptivity and self-management in the following themes: awareness of product origins; enhanced food-management capability; expanding applicability and usability of the food environment; and strengthening one's food-related self-image.
Practical implications
Increasing the presence of local food communities might be part of developing strategies to evaluate the health effects of the local food environment and to encourage consumers to take responsibility for their own health.
Originality/value
This study extends the food consumption literature to include new knowledge about how local food communities facilitate individual efforts to enhance their own potential for health as well as improving understanding of the mechanisms that underpin a healthy diet.
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The purpose of this paper is threefold: to conceptualize a construct of the perceived value in CSA and its dimensions, to operationalize and validate the construct, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is threefold: to conceptualize a construct of the perceived value in CSA and its dimensions, to operationalize and validate the construct, and to empirically investigate the influence of perceived value in CSA on consumer satisfaction and loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
This research begins by reviewing relevant literature that frames the concept of perceived value in CSA and integrates this construct into a nomological network. Operational measures for each component of perceived value in CSA are then developed. The scale is validated, and then used to test the hypothesized model in a sample of 198 consumers of Beijing's five CSA farms using partial least squares (PLS) as an analytical tool.
Findings
Perceived value in CSA is found to be a formative, multi-dimensional, third-order construct. Further, the results suggest that perceived value in CSA has both a direct positive effect on consumer loyalty and an indirect effect mediated through consumer satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations and research directions refer to the need to increase the sample size and replicate research in other places, the possibility of conducting longitudinal research, the need to identify antecedents of perceived value, and the opportunity to assess perceived value across a number of CSA member characteristics.
Practical implications
CSA farmers should recognize the importance of value creation to build and maintain long time relationships. This study suggests that CSA farmers can enhance value from two approaches. One approach is to build strategies to facilitate delivery of product benefits, emotional benefits, and social benefits. Another approach is to invest in efforts to reduce inconvenience and lower risk. In addition, the formative model means that CSA farmers can allocate resources depending on the relative weight of each in value perceptions.
Originality/value
This research is one of the first to conceptualize perceived value in a CSA setting; it argues that modeling of perceived value in CSA should take a formative approach and finds support for this; and assesses the nomological validity of the perceived value in CSA.
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Douglas H. Constance, William H. Friedland, Marie-Christine Renard and Marta G. Rivera-Ferre
This introduction provides an overview of the discourse on alternative agrifood movements (AAMs) to (1) ascertain the degree of convergence and divergence around a common ethos of…
Abstract
This introduction provides an overview of the discourse on alternative agrifood movements (AAMs) to (1) ascertain the degree of convergence and divergence around a common ethos of alterity and (2) context the chapters of the book. AAMs have increased in recent years in response to the growing legitimation crisis of the conventional agrifood system. Some agrifood researchers argue that AAMs represent the vanguard movement of our time, a formidable counter movement to global capitalism. Other authors note a pattern of blunting of the transformative qualities of AAMs due to conventionalization and mainstreaming in the market. The literature on AAMs is organized following a Four Questions in Agrifood Studies (Constance, 2008) framework. The section for each Question ends with a case study to better illustrate the historical dynamics of an AAM. The literature review ends with a summary of the discourse applied to the research question of the book: Are AAMs the vanguard social movement of our time? The last section of this introduction provides a short description of each contributing chapter of the book, which is divided into five sections: Introduction; Theoretical and Conceptual Framings; Food Sovereignty Movements; Alternative Movements in the Global North; and Conclusions.
Domenico Dentoni, Kim Poldner, Stefano Pascucci and William B. Gartner
The objective of this chapter is to understand innovative processes of resource redeployment taking place during consumption. We label this as consumer entrepreneurship. We define…
Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to understand innovative processes of resource redeployment taking place during consumption. We label this as consumer entrepreneurship. We define consumer entrepreneurship as the process of sharing and recombining resources innovatively to seek opportunities for self-creating user value. Through the illustration of heterogeneous forms of consumer peer-to-peer sharing, we argue that consumer entrepreneurship: (1) differs ontologically from a view of entrepreneurship as creation of exchange value; (2) bridges the notion, established in marketing studies, of consumers as value creators with the field of entrepreneurship; (3) develops mostly when the process of sharing is regulated informally, based on trust relationships; and (4) thrives as groups of sharing consumers discover and enact their values through the experimentation of multiple forms of product and service procurement. On the basis of these points, consumer entrepreneurship contributes to provide a novel perspective on hybrid organizations, that is, a view of hybrid organizations as everyday spaces where consumers create heterogeneous forms of (utilitarian, social, or environmental) value that they personally use as opposed to reward exchanges. Relative to the current definition of hybrid organizations (Pache & Santos, 2013) and organizing (Battilana & Lee, 2014), we argue that consumer entrepreneurship helps better explain “why, when, and how” consumers increasingly engage in peer-to-peer sharing organizations – a fledging and still underexplored way of organizing consumption worldwide.
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