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The importance of food retailers: applying network analysis techniques to the study of local food systems

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  • Shawn A. Trivette

    (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga)

Abstract

As local food activities expand and grow, an important question to answer is how various participants contribute to a local food system’s overall vitality and strength. This paper does so by focusing on the relationships between locally-oriented farm and retail actors and assessing what the configuration of these relationships tells us about the workings of the broader local food system. Such an analysis reveals two things. Empirically, it shows the important role food retailers play in the overall vibrancy of local food exchanges: food retailers form crucial links holding the broader system together and significantly expanding consumer access to local foods. Further, different retailer types have distinct impacts on network configurations, each serving particular roles in the development and maintenance of local food systems. Methodologically, this paper shows the value of applying social network analysis techniques to the study of local food systems: such an approach yields insights that may not be as readily assessable from other strategies. In this paper, I overview common network analysis techniques and apply them to a case study of local food activities in New England, suggesting how such an approach might be applied to local food systems in other places.

Suggested Citation

  • Shawn A. Trivette, 2019. "The importance of food retailers: applying network analysis techniques to the study of local food systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(1), pages 77-90, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:36:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10460-018-9885-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-018-9885-1
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    1. Martinez, Stephen W. & Hand, Michael S. & Da Pra, Michelle & Pollack, Susan L. & Ralston, Katherine L. & Smith, Travis A. & Vogel, Stephen J. & Clark, Shellye & Lohr, Luanne & Low, Sarah A. & Newman, , 2010. "Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues," Economic Research Report 96635, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
      • Martinez, Steve & Hand, Michael & Da Pra, Michelle & Pollack, Susan & Ralston, Katherine & Smith, Travis & Vogel, Stephen & Clarke, Shellye & Lohr, Luanne & Low, Sarah & Newman, Constance, 2010. "Local food systems: concepts, impacts, and issues," MPRA Paper 24313, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Shawn A. Trivette, 2017. "Invoices on scraps of paper: trust and reciprocity in local food systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 529-542, September.
    3. Shawn Trivette, 2015. "How local is local? Determining the boundaries of local food in practice," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(3), pages 475-490, September.
    4. Phil Mount, 2012. "Growing local food: scale and local food systems governance," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(1), pages 107-121, March.
    5. Sarah Heiss & Noelle Sevoian & David Conner & Linda Berlin, 2015. "Farm to institution programs: organizing practices that enable and constrain Vermont’s alternative food supply chains," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(1), pages 87-97, March.
    6. Patricia Allen & Alice Brooke Wilson, 2008. "Agrifood Inequalities: Globalization and localization," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 51(4), pages 534-540, December.
    7. Low, Sarah A. & Adalja, Aaron & Beaulieu, Elizabeth & Key, Nigel & Martinez, Stephen & Melton, Alex & Perez, Agnes & Ralston, Katherine & Stewart, Hayden & Suttles, Shellye & Vogel, Stephen & Jablonsk, 2015. "Trends in U.S. Local and Regional Food Systems: Report to Congress," Administrative Publications 292107, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
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    6. Agata Nicolosi & Valentina Rosa Laganà & Daniel Laven & Claudio Marcianò & Wilhelm Skoglund, 2019. "Consumer Habits of Local Food: Perspectives from Northern Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-25, November.
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