The local food sector Morris, Carol; Buller, Henry
British food journal (1966),
09/2003, Volume:
105, Issue:
8
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
"Local food" is attracting considerable policy and public interest, but evidence is lacking about the emerging contours of the local food sector. This paper offers a preliminary assessment of the ...local food sector in the county of Gloucestershire. Based on interviews with farmers and retailers, it investigates the scope of local food production in the county, assesses the nature of the local food chain and considers the potential of local food production and marketing for adding value for the various actors in the chain, from producer to retailer. Questions are raised in the conclusion about the coherence and sustainability of the local food sector in the county given the differences in the ways in which producers and retailers construct "local" and some unintended consequences of the efforts to promote local food.
Estimates the output-oriented and input-specific technical efficiency in two samples of Greek, durum wheat farms - organic and conventional ones - using Kalirajan and Obwona's stochastic varying ...coefficient regression model. Findings indicate that the organic wheat farms examined are relatively more efficient. Reasons may include lower profit margins and restrictions on inputs permitted, which may force organic farmers to be more cautious with input use. However, technical efficiency scores are still relatively low for both types of wheat farming. Therefore, considerable scope for cost reducing and farm income improvement may exist in both farming modes. This realization could prove crucial for the long-run viability and the future course of organic wheat farming.
The aim of the overall project is to understand in depth the behavioural process of parents with respect to organic food. Its main objectives are to identify: beliefs, with respect to organic food, ...of parents who buy and do not buy organic food; the positive as well as negative attitudes towards organic food of those who buy and do not buy organic food; the impact of those attitudes on food choice for parents who buy and do not buy organic food; and to model the food choice behaviour of parents with respect to organic food. Employs both qualitative and quantitative methods. Reports the results of the second qualitative phase of the project which involved 40 laddering interviews, which were conducted in Reading, UK. The means-end chain approach was used. The key idea is that product attributes are a means for consumers to obtain desired ends. Participants were parents with children aged 4-12 years old, who were responsible for food purchases in their families and belonged to ABC1 class. The life values which were revealed mainly fall into three main broad categories. Consumers' human, animal and environment centred values form the key motivating factors for organic food purchase. Both laddering and focus group interviews have generated certain hypotheses that are tested through the quantitative phase of the project, which uses a sample survey.
In 1994, after 61 years, the UK's Milk Marketing Boards were disbanded. One consequence, an increase in the variation of milk price paid to producers, is analysed here. Initially most milk producers ...joined the farmer-owned co-operative Milk Marque, accepting lower milk prices (estimated here at about 1.5 ppl in the 1997 milk quota year). A second analysis shows that these farmers accepted this lower milk price because of Milk Marque's perceived financial security, and to support the principle of co-operative marketing which they believed would protect milk prices in the long run. Milk Marque was dismantled in 2000 principally because of its planned enlargement of vertically integrated processing capacity. This has left dairy farmers at another crossroads; their choices now will shape the development of the marketing of milk in England and Wales for the foreseeable future. These options are discussed.
With influences on aspects of food choice originating from a number of sources and investigation requiring multidisciplinary considerations, more qualitative methods have proved effective in offering ...some insight into the changing role of food. These methods are particularly useful when considering food encounters and diet of both children and adolescents, as they can provide more personalised accounts of food use and social interactions than more quantitative alternatives. Pictures have previously been used to assist in food related studies, but with limitations. This paper considers the effectiveness of using pictorial prompts to initiate unstructured interviews with two sample groups of children and adolescents, highlighting an increased potential for their use in future research. Other considerations include the restrictions that are often imposed on the independent researcher in terms of time resources and limited access.
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