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The local food movement, public-private partnerships, and food system resiliency

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  • Rebecca Dunning
  • J. Bloom
  • Nancy Creamer

Abstract

Concentration and consolidation in production, distribution, and retailing have arguably reduced the diversity of US food supply and distribution channels, thus introducing vulnerabilities into the food system. This paper addresses the question of what can be done to make the system more resilient to shocks that can disrupt food supplies. We suggest that the interest connected to the local food movement extant in a wide-ranging set of public and private groups, as well as among a widening base of consumers, creates a unique opportunity to strengthen food system resiliency. We specifically focus on the supply and distribution systems of supermarket retailers. Supermarkets are major drivers of the modern food system, with US and global consolidation positioning grocery retailers as both oligopolistic sellers and oligopsonistic buyers of food. We discuss the opportunities and challenges to diversifying supermarket procurement and distribution through localization and suggest that such a shift can be most successful if it is facilitated by public-private partnerships to foster system-level change. We provide an example of one such public-private partnership in the context of the work of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (a collaboration between two North Carolina land grant universities) which has partnered with a regional supermarket chain to facilitate and promote the sourcing of local products. The substantive activities of the partnership—capacity-building training for growers and buyers, networking and peer-learning activities and site tours, support for MBA research teams and undergraduate internships, and piloting and subsequent evaluation of novel distributional techniques—are ones that can be enacted by researchers, instructors, and advocates in partnership with supermarkets and other food businesses to build more resilient systems of food procurement and distribution. Discussion of the project provides tangible examples of how public and private entities holding shared interests in local agriculture can partner as part of a holistic approach to diversifying and strengthening the food system. Copyright AESS 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Rebecca Dunning & J. Bloom & Nancy Creamer, 2015. "The local food movement, public-private partnerships, and food system resiliency," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 5(4), pages 661-670, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:5:y:2015:i:4:p:661-670
    DOI: 10.1007/s13412-015-0295-z
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    2. Alban Thomas & Claire Lamine & Benjamin Allès & Yuna Chiffoleau & Antoine Doré & Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier & Mourad Hannachi, 2020. "The key roles of economic and social organization and producer and consumer behaviour towards a health-agriculture-food-environment nexus: recent advances and future prospects," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 101(1), pages 23-46.
    3. Richard Volpe & Maiah Alman & Xiaowei Cai & Alexander Stevens, 2022. "Retail Mergers and Acquisitions, and Specialty Crop Producers: Evidence from California," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, March.
    4. Gerald Marten & Nurcan Atalan-Helicke, 2015. "Introduction to the Symposium on American Food Resilience (Part 2)," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 5(4), pages 537-542, December.
    5. Ruerd Ruben & Jan Verhagen & Christine Plaisier, 2018. "The Challenge of Food Systems Research: What Difference Does It Make?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    6. I. D. Brouwer & M. J. Liere & A. Brauw & P. Dominguez-Salas & A. Herforth & G. Kennedy & C. Lachat & E. B. Omosa & E. F. Talsma & S. Vandevijvere & J. Fanzo & M. Ruel, 2021. "Reverse thinking: taking a healthy diet perspective towards food systems transformations," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(6), pages 1497-1523, December.
    7. Thomas, Alban & Lamine, Claire & Allès, Benjamin & Chiffoleau, Yuna & Doré, Antoine & Dubuisson-Quellier, Sophie & Hannachi, Mourad, 2020. "The key roles of economic and social organization, producer and consumer behaviour towards a HAFEN (Health-Agriculture-Environment-Food Nexus)," TSE Working Papers 20-1068, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).

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