Alternative Food Networks: An Interdisciplinary Assessment

by Alessandro Corsi, Filippo Barbera, Egidio Dansero, Cristiana Peano

Overview

In recent years, Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) have been a key issue both in the scientific community and in public debates. This is due to their profound implications for rural development, local sustainability, and bio-economics. This edited collection discusses what the main determinants of the participation of operators – both consumers and producers – in AFNs are, what the conditions for their sustainability are, what their social and environmental effects are, and how they are distributed geographically. Further discussions include the effect of AFNs in structuring the food chain and how AFNs can be successfully scaled up.

The authors explicitly take an interdisciplinary approach to analyse AFNs from different perspectives, using as an example the Italian region of Piedmont, a particularly interesting case study due to the diffusion of AFNs in the area, as well as due to the fact that it was in this region that the ‘Slow Food’ movement originated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030080099
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	01/07/2019
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2018
Pages:	325
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

Alessandro Corsi is Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Turin, Italy.

Filippo Barbera is Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the University of Turin, Italy and Affiliate of the Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin, Italy.

Egidio Dansero is Professor of Political and Economic Geography at the University of Turin, Italy.

Cristiana Peano is Associate Professor of Arboriculture at the University of Turin, Italy.

Table of Contents

Part I: Introductions.- Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Alternative Food Networks.- Part II: AFNs from the Consumers’ Viewpoint.- Chapter 3: Introduction to Part II.- Chapter 4: Determinants of Participation in AFNs and its Value for Consumers.- Chapter 5: Consumers’ Quality Conventions in Alternative, Conventional and High-Quality Food Chains.- Chapter 6: The Environmental Quality Factors sought by Consumers in Alternative and Conventional Market Channels.- Chapter 7: Understanding Alternative Food Networks after the Crisis: Testing Four Scenarios in Italy.- Part III: AFNs From the Producers’ Viewpoint .- Chapter 8: Introduction to Part III.- Chapter 9: Determinants of Farmers’ Participation in AFNs.- Chapter 10: The Economic Viability Of Solidarity Purchase Groups (Gruppi Di Acquisto Solidale).- Chapter 11: Quality and Price Setting By Producers In AFNs.- Part IV: Environment, Territory, and AFNs.- Chapter 12: Introduction to Part IV.- Chapter 13: Applied Environmental Sustainability of Fruits and Vegetables in Different Distribution Channels (AFNs and Large Scale Retail).- Chapter 14: Reterritorialization, Proximity and Urban Food Planning: Research Perspectives on AFNs.- Part V: Conclusions.- Chapter 15: Conclusions: An Interdisciplinary Assessment. 

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) have now been an object of interest for scholars for almost twenty years. This book, which studies AFNs in one of the regions where the movement had one of its earliest origins, provides a timely reflection on what they mean today, what their connection with the broader food system is and what they have the potential to become.” (Professor Gianluca Brunori, University of Pisa, Italy)

“This gem of a book argues that we need to move away from nouns and adjectives—e.g., local, fresh, quality, and healthy—when valorising AFNs and redirect the discussion toward what these practices engender. The book offers a rich empirical grounding for helping us think through the type of food futures we want to make possible. It is not enough to make food affordable and accessible. We equally need to think about the type of individuals and communities our foodscapes create. The goal: to foster those networks with the potential to afford empathetic food citizens.” (Michael S. Carolan, Colorado State University, USA)

“In contrast to the popular discourse around AFNs – which treats them as a wholly benign phenomenon – this book offers a new and highly sophisticated treatment, revealing them to be far more complex and heterogeneous than conventional wisdom suggests they are. Drawing on robust empirical analysis of a diverse range of food institutions the authors show that due to the diversity of consumer preferences and the relevance of personalrelationships, the concept of ‘alternativeness’ needs to be understood as a continuum rather than a binary. This book is in the great traditional of moral economy studies, where food is viewed and valued as something more than a mere commodity.” (Kevin Morgan, Cardiff University, UK)