IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v38y2021i4d10.1007_s10460-021-10199-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania

Author

Listed:
  • Catherine Brinkley

    (University of California)

  • Gwyneth M. Manser

    (University of California)

  • Sasha Pesci

    (University of California)

Abstract

Local food systems are growing, and little is known about how the constellation of farms and markets change over time. We trace the evolution of two local food systems (Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania) over six years, including a dataset of over 2690 market connections (edges) between 1520 locations (nodes). Longitudinal social network analysis reveals how the architecture, actor network centrality, magnitude, and spatiality of these supply chains shifted during the 2012–2018 time period. Our findings demonstrate that, despite growth in the number of farmers’ markets, grocery stores, farms and restaurants in both counties, each local food system also experienced high turnover rates. Over 80% of the market connections changed during the study period. Farms, farmers’ markets, and grocery stores showed a 40–50% ‘survival’ rate, indicating their role in sustaining local food systems over longer time periods. Other actors, such as restaurants, had a much higher turnover rate within the network. Both food systems became more close-knit and consolidated as the center of gravity for both local food systems pulled away from urban areas toward rural farmland. Evidence of both growth and decay within local food systems provides a new understanding of the social networks behind local food markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Catherine Brinkley & Gwyneth M. Manser & Sasha Pesci, 2021. "Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(4), pages 911-927, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:38:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10460-021-10199-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-021-10199-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-021-10199-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-021-10199-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gerda R. Wekerle & Paul S. B. Jackson, 2005. "Urbanizing the security agenda," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 33-49, April.
    2. Alan Randall, 2002. "Valuing the outputs of multifunctional agriculture," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 29(3), pages 289-307, July.
    3. Patricia Allen, 2008. "Mining for justice in the food system: perceptions, practices, and possibilities," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 25(2), pages 157-161, June.
    4. Cheryl Brown & Stacy Miller, 2008. "The Impacts of Local Markets: A Review of Research on Farmers Markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1298-1302.
    5. 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.
    6. Patricia Allen, 2010. "Realizing justice in local food systems," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 3(2), pages 295-308.
    7. 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.
    8. Kim Darby & Marvin T. Batte & Stan Ernst & Brian Roe, 2008. "Decomposing Local: A Conjoint Analysis of Locally Produced Foods," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(2), pages 476-486.
    9. Amory Starr & Adrian Card & Carolyn Benepe & Garry Auld & Dennis Lamm & Ken Smith & Karen Wilken, 2003. "Sustaining local agriculture Barriers and opportunities to direct marketing between farms and restaurants in Colorado," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 20(3), pages 301-321, September.
    10. Brian Obach & Kathleen Tobin, 2014. "Civic agriculture and community engagement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(2), pages 307-322, June.
    11. O'Hara, Jeffrey K. & Shideler, David, 2018. "Do Farmers’ Markets Boost Main Street? Direct-to-Consumer Agricultural Production Impacts on the Food Retail Sector," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 49(2), July.
    12. Laura DeLind, 2002. "Place, work, and civic agriculture: Common fields for cultivation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 19(3), pages 217-224, September.
    13. Steven Schnell, 2013. "Food miles, local eating, and community supported agriculture: putting local food in its place," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(4), pages 615-628, December.
    14. Kameshwari Pothukuchi & Jerome Kaufman, 1999. "Placing the food system on the urban agenda: The role of municipal institutions in food systems planning," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 16(2), pages 213-224, June.
    15. Domenic Vitiello & Jeane Grisso & K. Whiteside & Rebecca Fischman, 2015. "From commodity surplus to food justice: food banks and local agriculture in the United States," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(3), pages 419-430, September.
    16. Megan Horst & Nathan McClintock & Lesli Hoey, 2017. "The Intersection of Planning, Urban Agriculture, and Food Justice: A Review of the Literature," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(3), pages 277-295, July.
    17. Ryan E. Galt, 2013. "The Moral Economy Is a Double-edged Sword: Explaining Farmers’ Earnings and Self-exploitation in Community-Supported Agriculture," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 89(4), pages 341-365, October.
    18. Catherine Brinkley, 2018. "The Small World of the Alternative Food Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-19, August.
    19. Lucy Jarosz, 2000. "Understanding agri-food networks as social relations," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 17(3), pages 279-283, September.
    20. Ryan E. Galt, 2013. "The Moral Economy Is a Double-edged Sword: Explaining Farmers’ Earnings and Self-exploitation in Community-Supported Agriculture," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 89(4), pages 341-365, October.
    21. Alison Blay-Palmer & Roberta Sonnino & Julien Custot, 2016. "A food politics of the possible? Growing sustainable food systems through networks of knowledge," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(1), pages 27-43, March.
    22. Joshua Sbicca, 2012. "Growing food justice by planting an anti-oppression foundation: opportunities and obstacles for a budding social movement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(4), pages 455-466, December.
    23. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Durant, Jennie L. & Asprooth, Lauren & Galt, Ryan E. & Schmulevich, Sasha Pesci & Manser, Gwyneth M. & Pinzón, Natalia, 2023. "Farm resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of California direct market farmers," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    2. Ana Isabel Bento & Carla Cruz & Gabriela Fernandes & Luís Miguel D. F. Ferreira, 2024. "Social Network Analysis: Applications and New Metrics for Supply Chain Management—A Literature Review," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, February.
    3. William Lacy, 2023. "Local food systems, citizen and public science, empowered communities, and democracy: hopes deserving to live," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Jordana Fuchs-Chesney & Subhashni Raj & Tishtar Daruwalla & Catherine Brinkley, 2023. "All roads lead to the farmers market?: using network analysis to measure the orientation and central actors in a community food system through a case comparison of Yolo and Sacramento County, Californ," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 157-173, March.
    5. Gaitán-Cremaschi, Daniel & Klerkx, Laurens & Aguilar-Gallegos, Norman & Duncan, Jessica & Pizzolón, Alejandro & Dogliotti, Santiago & Rossing, Walter A.H., 2022. "Public food procurement from family farming: A food system and social network perspective," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Alexander J. Stein & Fabien Santini, 2022. "The sustainability of “local” food: a review for policy-makers," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 77-89, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara A. L. Smaal & Joost Dessein & Barend J. Wind & Elke Rogge, 2021. "Social justice-oriented narratives in European urban food strategies: Bringing forward redistribution, recognition and representation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 709-727, September.
    2. Claudio Vitari & Erin Whittingham, 2018. "Tackling Conventional Agriculture: The Institutionalization of Community Supported Agriculture's (CSA) Principles," Post-Print halshs-01923789, HAL.
    3. Horst, Megan & Gwin, Lauren, 2018. "Land access for direct market food farmers in Oregon, USA," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 594-611.
    4. Zhenzhong Si & Theresa Schumilas & Steffanie Scott, 2015. "Characterizing alternative food networks in China," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 299-313, June.
    5. John J. Metz & Sarah M. Scherer, 2022. "The rise and decline of farmers markets in greater Cincinnati," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 95-117, March.
    6. Patrick Mundler & Sophie Laughrea, 2015. "Circuits alimentaires de proximité - Quels bénéfices pour le développement des territoires? Étude de cas dans trois territoires québécois," CIRANO Project Reports 2015rp-21, CIRANO.
    7. Enthoven, Laura & Van den Broeck, Goedele, 2021. "Local food systems: Reviewing two decades of research," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    8. William Lacy, 2023. "Local food systems, citizen and public science, empowered communities, and democracy: hopes deserving to live," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 1-17, March.
    9. Ge, Houtian & Goetz, Stephan & Canning, Patrick & Perez, Agnes, 2018. "Optimal locations of fresh produce aggregation facilities in the United States with scale economies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 143-157.
    10. Joshua Sbicca, 2015. "Food labor, economic inequality, and the imperfect politics of process in the alternative food movement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 675-687, December.
    11. Catherine Brinkley, 2018. "The Small World of the Alternative Food Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-19, August.
    12. Stevens Azima & Patrick Mundler, 2022. "Does direct farm marketing fulfill its promises? analyzing job satisfaction among direct-market farmers in Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(2), pages 791-807, June.
    13. Roxana Bobulescu & Nhu Tuyên Lê & Claudio Vitari & Erin Whittingham, 2018. "Socio-economic and ecological transition in community supported agriculture: from the 'transitional' to the 'ideal' CSA," Post-Print halshs-01923235, HAL.
    14. Phillip Warsaw & Steven Archambault & Arden He & Stacy Miller, 2021. "The Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts of Farmers Markets: Recent Evidence from the US," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, March.
    15. Adalja, Aaron & Hanson, James & Towe, Charles & Tselepidakis, Elina, 2015. "An Examination of Consumer Willingness to Pay for Local Products," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 44(3), pages 1-22, December.
    16. 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.
    17. Tezcan Mert-Cakal & Mara Miele, 2020. "‘Workable utopias’ for social change through inclusion and empowerment? Community supported agriculture (CSA) in Wales as social innovation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1241-1260, December.
    18. Anuj Mittal & Caroline C. Krejci & Teri J. Craven, 2018. "Logistics Best Practices for Regional Food Systems: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-44, January.
    19. Eugenio DEMARTINI & Anna GAVIGLIO & Alberto PIRANI, 2017. "Farmers' motivation and perceived effects of participating in short food supply chains: evidence from a North Italian survey," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 63(5), pages 204-216.
    20. Ostrom, Marcia & Goldberger, Jessica R. & Smith, Katherine Selting, 2020. "Market Makers; Exploring Gender Dynamics in Farmers Markets from Field to Booth," Western Economics Forum, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 18(2), December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:38:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10460-021-10199-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.