Explore the vast range of titles available.

The transition of food systems towards more sustainable organizational models is increasingly positioning Short Food Supply Chains as a key channel to value the specific attributes of local products, while also meeting the growing demand for diversified consumption based on both socio-economic and socio-cultural drivers. The aim of this paper is to offer new insights into evolutionary multi-stakeholder organization strategies within SFSCs, analysing drivers and barriers to their adoption, and investigate consumer acceptance of such new models. We draw upon the case study of the Km0 Newsstand project, an initiative launched to enhance and promote the biocultural heritage of the Tuscany region through the direct sale of traditional agricultural products, local food specialities and crafts, as well as related services in newsstands. We adopted a mixed-methods approach to conduct an in-depth analysis of this innovative SFSC model. To investigate the perspective of producers and retailers, we developed a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis and also a Social Business Model Canvas of this newly designed business model by collecting and analysing existing documents and carrying out in-depth interviews with key informants. On the demand side, we implemented an online survey (N = 1000) to explore the factors influencing the intention of consumers to use the Km0 Newsstand services, along with potential drivers and barriers for their purchasing behaviour. Results show how the model ensures a balance between financial sustainability and the mission of promoting sustainable local consumption while fostering economic, social, and environmental benefits for all stakeholders involved.

There has been broad recognition that current food systems need to go through a process of transformation and transition. In the similar way that other areas have transitioned to be more sustainable, the transition process for food systems has some issues related to justice in terms of achieving more sustainable and inclusive food production, distribution and consumption. Acknowledging the importance of these issues, this article aims to understand how knowledge about desired changes is produced and shared among people engaged in activities to transform food production and consumption. To this end, it analyses the short narratives of urban citizens in Japan engaged in participatory farming, adopting the concepts focusing on the contrasts embedded in the short stories, learning from risk studies. The farmer, volunteer staff members and urban citizens collaborate to grow rice using traditional techniques. Their narratives reveal some contrasts in how they used to engage with food, farms and the local environment, and their engagement now. Furthermore, it was observed that these citizens reconfirm the importance of knowledge learned through actual work on the farm and the different roles played by the farmer, volunteers and local participants in creating and passing on knowledge. In such ways, people’s interaction leads to the creation of shared meanings of “appropriateness” in terms of existing and emerging food-related practices. This matter of meaning-making for “appropriateness” is often overlooked in the discussion of the justice in food systems’ transitions.

Sustainable Public Food Procurement (SPFP) is gaining recognition for its potential to improve the sustainability of food systems and promote healthier diets. However, SPFP faces various challenges, including coordination issues, actor dynamics, infrastructure limitations, unsustainable habits, and institutional resistance, among others. Drawing upon insights from the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions and the X-curve model on transition dynamics, this study investigates the role of transition intermediaries in facilitating SPFP-induced transformations in food systems. Focusing on four case studies in Spain, we identify common barriers encountered in SPFP and analyse how distinct types of transition intermediaries contribute individually and collectively to address these challenges. Additionally, we explore how intermediary networks evolve throughout different phases of the transition process. Our findings reveal that SPFP barriers are systemic and interconnected, emphasizing the necessity of collective intermediation to overcome these obstacles. Furthermore, our results reveal how collective intermediation is orchestrated by pivotal intermediaries who mobilize diverse transition intermediaries, shaping multiple transition pathways. These intermediaries operate at both food system regimes and niches, challenging the conventional notion that transformative change can only originate from niche efforts. Lastly, we highlight the dynamic and flexible nature of intermediation in SPFP transitions, underscoring the importance of adaptability in strategies as these transitions evolve over time. Practical implications include the need for context-specific, adaptive approaches and strategies that leverage intermediary diversity. This research offers insights for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars into SPFP and broader transitions towards food systems transformation, fostering a more comprehensive understanding of these transition processes.

Organizations and practices that contribute to the resolution of major societal challenges are key to achieving a transition towards sustainable and resilient food systems. Previous research identified contextual elements that affect the emergence of organizations and practices with responsibility characteristics, but how this process unfolds remains poorly articulated. Our study thus focuses on how contextual dimensions may contribute to or constrain the emergence of responsibility in food systems. We applied a multiple case study design and conducted 34 semi-structured interviews with 30 organizations in the province of Québec (Canada) and in the state of São Paulo (Brazil). Our across-case analyses clarify how multiple contextual dimensions both contribute to and constrain the emergence of responsibility. More specifically, our findings show that while contextual dimensions shaped by the dominant food system constrain the emergence of responsibility, the same dimensions also contribute to it when they embed responsibility principles. One key contribution of our study is to show that interpersonal relations are an important mediation mechanism that helps to modify contextual elements, so they can contribute to the emergence of responsibility. This study’s findings can inform research and policy aiming to design institutional environments that promote a transition towards more responsible food systems.

The double burden of malnutrition (DBM) is escalating in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including in Rwanda, most notably in urbanizing areas. The 2019–2020 Rwanda Demographic Health Survey (DHS) revealed that 33% of children under 5 years old are stunted while 42% of women in urban areas are overweight or obese. This coexistence has contributed to a surge in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly in secondary cities. Using the World Health Organization’s (WHOs) “double-duty action” (DDA) concept, this study aims to identify and evaluate interventions with double-duty potential in Rwanda’s Rusizi and Rubavu districts and generate key recommendations for their improvement. A desk review of national policies pinpointed four programs with the greatest DDA potential: early childhood development (ECD) centers, the school feeding program, farmer field schools (FFS), and the provision of nutrition-sensitive direct support. In-person interviews with key stakeholders assessed the implementation of each program and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis was used to generate context-specific recommendations for their improvement. The main finding of this research is that Rwanda’s potential to address the DBM can be improved across multiple sectors by implementing a few key changes: targeting beliefs surrounding nutrition, improving trainings for community educators, enhancing parent–particularly father–involvement, and engaging in close monitoring and follow-up. These findings offer actionable streps that governments and nutrition stakeholders can take to improve similar interventions in other rapidly urbanizing LMICs.

Transition scholars have argued that the analysis of the agency of local civil society actors in their political struggle to transform the food system is necessary. In response, we complement the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions with the mechanism-process approach of contentious politics. This framework guides our qualitative analysis of a local movement called “The Way of Mals” in South Tyrol, Italy. This movement aimed to ban pesticides by developing a niche of food democratisation. We investigate how the local movement strategically mobilised citizens to get actively engaged in the local governance of food. We argue that the creation of political opportunities by the movement was crucial for their claim making. Amongst others, they introduced a legally binding local referendum on the ban on chemical–synthetic pesticides. We call this mechanism “paving”. In combination with meaning-making and networking, paving has led to the democratisation of local food governance. We conclude that the agency of local movements is especially reflected in their capacity to readjust in response to suppression efforts of their opponents in the well-established conventional regime. We suggest comparisons with similar cases for future research.

Background While there has been increasing global recognition and impetus for action to transform food systems towards greater food security, sustainability and better health outcomes, Israel has only recently begun to focus on the diverse challenges of its food system and its potential for transformation. Methods An expert opinion survey (n = 50) on Israel’s food system was conducted as part of a larger study on the systemic features of Israel’s food system transition to understand its policy gaps and find strategies towards a healthy and sustainable food system. The survey ranks the relevance and importance of food system challenges and policy preferences. Policy implications are then examined by identifying potential priorities, gaps and dissensus. Results The survey finds that there is a majority agreement (76%) that Israel’s food policies are lacking or severely lacking. Respondents relate strongly to both concepts of nutritional security (90% think that access to nutritious food is relevant or highly relevant) and national food security (more than 80% perceive food security as part of national security). Respondents overwhelmingly recognize the benefits of Israeli agriculture with 60–90% agreeing or strongly agreeing that it benefits food security, economic value and national identity. Top-ranked problems include overall systemic problems such as the lack of national goals, strategic planning, and integrated policymaking across ministries, and specific ones such as food waste, costly farming inputs, and food affordability. The most preferred policy actions include establishing a national strategy for food and agriculture, making food affordable for vulnerable households, and incentivising sustainable farming methods. The key policy gaps include the lack of resilience in agriculture and the food system, insufficient data and knowledge for policy action, inadequate attention to the regulation of the food industry for better health and inadequate food policy attention for minority groups. Conclusions Building on this study's findings, further policy research and implementation areas to be covered include government responsibility for universal food security, strategic systemic policies for food systems, prevention and preparedness for future crises, and promoting resilience. The way forward may best be through an inter-ministerial committee with the responsibility, budgets, mandate and executive authority to plan data-driven policies for a sustainable food system for Israel’s future.

Dominant agri-food systems are increasingly seen as unsustainable in terms of environmental degradation, mass production or high food waste. In an attempt to counteract these developments and foster sustainability transitions in agri-food systems, a variety of actors are engaging in socially innovative models of food production and consumption. Using a multiple case study approach, our study examines three contrasting alternative economic models in the city of Berlin: community gardens, the app Too Good To Go (TGTG), and a cooperative supermarket. Based on 15 qualitative interviews, we provide insights into their transformative potential by exploring participants' underlying motivations, the changes they have experienced, and the challenges and potential for future development of these models. We find that participation in community gardens and the cooperative supermarket is similarly motivated by social aspects and dissatisfaction with existing food access options, while TGTG users are more motivated by financial reasons. Our study shows that change is experienced mainly at the individual level, e.g. by building new relationships, changing cognitive framings, and learning (new) practices, especially in community-oriented settings. The individualization of change shows that these models have a rather low potential to lead to more systemic accounts of changes. Yet, they can prefigure regime change, describe resistance, and foster cumulative incremental change that may spill over into society. We conclude that in order to sustain this role and drive transitions, it is important to up- and outscale these models; and we provide recommendations on how these models can mutually support their development, establishment, and protection.

Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a format for provisioning food, usually vegetables, where consumers are involved, to various degrees, in the production process. In this study of survey data, we explore differences between CSAs in Norway and the UK in terms of organisational models and member characteristics, particularly the factors that contribute to increase member contentment with CSAs, and their perceptions of their own mental health and vegetable consumption. Results show that compared to the British, Norwegian CSA members participate far more actively in the cultivation and harvesting of the vegetables, and more often prepay subscriptions for the whole season. In both countries, CSA membership was perceived to have caused improvements in members’ life quality, vegetable intake and physical and mental health. Members who participated more actively in the CSA and who received more of their vegetables through the CSA, were also more satisfied with their CSA and had a stronger perception that their vegetable consumption level and their mental health were positively affected by membership. Members with lower educational attainment levels were more likely to have discovered new vegetables through the CSA. Environmentally friendly production methods were also found to be important for CSA members. Vegetable quality and affordability were associated with higher contentment, and learning how to cook and grow vegetables through the CSA was associated with higher consumption of, and interest in, new vegetables. Overall, the results indicate that CSAs can stimulate contentment due to their members’ perceptions of social and environmental benefits.

The article provides an original conceptual framework to advance the knowledge of short food supply chains (SFSCs) collaboration by bridging supply chain management approaches with empirical evidence from the agri-food sector. Through an in-depth analysis of 14 initiatives across Europe, it explores the multi-faceted nature of SFSCs collaboration, revealing a complex interplay between collaborative relationships, interaction mechanisms, and relational benefits. By identifying seven key interaction mechanisms—information sharing, decision synchronisation, goal congruence, incentive alignment, resource sharing, joint knowledge creation, and collaborative communication—the article shows how these mechanisms generate both tangible and intangible relational benefits, including fair pricing, reduced transaction costs, enhanced market knowledge, technological skills, and stronger community engagement. The findings demonstrate that SFSCs collaborations operate as dynamic ecosystems characterised by complex interdependencies among diverse actors. This diversity extends beyond traditional business-to-business (B2B) models to include business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-business (C2B), and hybrid business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) relationships. These varied collaborative structures facilitate mutual learning, innovation, and value co-creation, crucial for the resilience and adaptability of local food systems. The presence of robust interaction mechanisms is essential for fostering effective partnerships and generating relational benefits, even if not all mechanisms are consistently present in every type of collaborative relationships.