Research & reports

Sumiko Abe · Journal for the Integrated Study of Dietary Habits · Global

This report examines the weakening relationship between agriculture and food, leading to market failures, reduced competitiveness, and information deficiencies, with processed foods and supermarket purchases dominating. It focuses on direct sales and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as methods to realize "eating habits of volitional selection." These regional markets foster trust and traceability, contributing to food safety, and the study introduces examples from 12,000 direct sales stores, female farmer enterprises, and the Pal System Consumers Cooperative Union.

David W. Hughes, Daniel Eades, Kenneth L. Robinson, Carlos E. Carpio, Isengildina, Olga, Cheryl Brown, Hughes, David W., Eades, Daniel C., Robinson, Kenneth L., Carpio, Carlos E., Isengildina, Olga, Brown, Cheryl · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Global

This paper critiques the current literature on local food systems, which are promoted for local economic growth and reduced environmental impact, but often lack rigorous analysis from a regional science perspective. Using the Porter Diamond framework, it discusses how regional science can analyze local food systems as an economic development tool and assesses their potential environmental benefits.

Karin Andersson · · Sweden

This study analyzed Ramsjo gard, the only Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in Sweden, from a sustainability perspective using a mail survey of CSA members and a farm sustainability analysis. The survey found no statistically significant relationship between farmer-member contact and member learning, nor between member learning and changes in food purchasing habits. The sustainability analysis indicated that farmers perceived social and environmental aspects as more sustainable than economic and practical ones.

Brian Halweil · · Global

This book points out that the long-distance food system consumes staggering amounts of fuel, generates greenhouse gases, and compromises food security. Since 1961, the tonnage of food shipped between nations has grown fourfold, with food in the United States typically traveling 1,500 to 2,500 miles from farm to plate. While this system often runs roughshod over local cuisines, varieties, and agriculture, a local-foods movement is beginning to emerge globally.

Erik Millstone · Nutrition & Food Science · Global

This reference volume surveys global food topics chapter by chapter, covering population and productivity, water pressure, under- and over-nutrition, food aid, mechanization and industrial farming, genetically modified crops, pesticides, urban farming, fishing, trade flows, food miles, processing, retailing and consumption, and organic foods. The abstract consists only of a table of contents; no specific findings are given.

Helen L. La Trobe, Tim Acott · International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology · Global

An article arguing that while organic farming can address many environmental problems associated with agricultural intensification, it cannot on its own fully resolve the social and economic problems caused by the globalization of the food system, against a backdrop of increasingly industrialized, mechanized and chemical-input-dependent agriculture. It argues organic farming needs to be combined with local and regional direct marketing — such as farmers' markets, food box delivery schemes and Community Supported Agriculture — to move toward a more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable agrofood system.