Alternative Food Networks: Perceptions in Short Food Supply Chains in Spain

Abstract

Alternative spaces for the consumption of non-conventional foods as short commercialization chains have been increased worldwide, as well as the interest in understanding the dynamics developed in those initiatives from a social approach, has increased. This work aimed to analyze the Organizers, Producers and Consumers’ perceptions that participate in short food supply chains in ecological markets in the south of Spain. The Conventions Theory framework was used by applying a quantitative and qualitative methodology. A total of 159 questionnaires were applied (three to Organizers, 15 to Producers and 177 to Consumers). The questionnaire considered items related to social conventions for seven worlds (Domestic, Civic, Market, Industrial, Opinion and Inspired) and sociodemographic information. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze the information. Results show that coincidences and divergences are observed in the importance given to the worlds; the Civic, Inspired and Opinion worlds are perceived similarly by the three types of actors and are related to the interest in how these activities benefit the environment. Differences are attributed to the role played by each type of actor and to socioeconomic aspects. Results can materialize into different strategies to improve these initiatives and reach more consumers.

Uses for Wines and Vinegars from Marco de Jerez: Between Culinary Tradition and Haute Cuisine

“…Well now, it is worth mentioning the way of methodologically address the goals, since we focus on the description and analysis of food social practices and also the motivations and perceptions of the actors involved in them. It may seem a subjective approach, as it is intended to measure and quantify perceptions; however, as pointed out in some works, it is an efficient method to obtain a comprehensive overview of the study context (Corsi et [16,21,24,43] . We are aware of the methodological challenge entailed in the analysis of social realities via the actors' behaviors in their daily actions and practices, taking their valorizations and various perceptions into account, mostly when data are obtained via oral expression (respondents tell us what they do and feel).…”

Cambios en la demanda y estrategias de adaptación en producciones agrarias sostenibles durante el confinamiento por la pandemia COVID-19

“…En la literatura internacional se destaca, incluso con profusión, que el sector agrario ha tenido, en general, una elevada resiliencia ante el shock de la crisis de la COVID-19, especialmente los efectos negativos derivados del confinamiento y las restricciones a la movilidad, sobre todo los relacionados con los cambios en la demanda y la subida de precios (Altieri y Nicholls, 2020; Durant et al, 2023;Escobar-López et al, 2021). Efectivamente, el sector agrario en general, y los agricultores en particular, se organizaron con cierta rapidez e introdujeron cambios para dar respuesta a las nuevas necesidades y el nuevo escenario (Perrin y Martin, 2021;Snow et al, 2021), y en algunos casos se destaca incluso el impacto limitado que la COVID-19 tuvo en la producción y entrega de alimentos (Meuwissen et al, 2021).…”

Short Food Supply Chains in Europe: Scientific Research Directions

“…Therefore, based on how the relationship between participation in SFSCs and the farmer dimension was analysed, two research strands representing two sides of the same coin were identified (Figure 4). The first strand is represented by studies [7,41,49,52,56,61,82,110,124,128] highlighting whether and to what extent the orientation towards SFSCs influences elements relating to the farmer dimension. On the other side, another larger sub-group [47,54,56,61,64,65,69,75,76,80,86,90,94,95,97,98,101,102,104,108,113,115,118] investigated the same relationship but in the opposite direction: these authors focused on identifying whether and how certain farmer characteristics influence the choice by farmers to participate in SFSCs and whether they boost the development of these supply chain models.…”

“…The results show that producers with stronger intention have a higher environmental concern, and it is argued that the social and cultural context can have a great impact on these innovation proposals. Another interesting insight into farmer behaviours was provided by the application of conventions theory (CT) [49] in order to evaluate differences and similarities among SFSC actors' perceptions: a complete picture of the forces driving their behaviours was described, and a common agreement was found regarding the importance of product quality and reputation. Farmers' use of smart technologies is remarkable and constitutes an emerging topic [7,39,62,95]; digitalization in SFSCs appears to affect perceptions negatively because it is seen as a conventionalization process that could break the direct connection between consumer and farmer [62].…”

“…A singular point of view is provided by a study on the positive effect of ethnocentric attitudes on SFSC development in Poland [68]. However, in general, environment-friendly attitudes and attention to quality, freshness and healthiness have been identified as determinants guiding these consumption choices [11,29,44,49,53,74,81,83,85,97,120,125]. The contribution of Giampietri et al (2015) [120] was the only one among the reviewed papers to use the TPB in order to investigate these influencing factors, while Migliore et al (2015) [125] investigated the effects of quality conventions using a CT framework.…”