The participatory construction of new economic models in short food supply chains
Introduction
Over the last few decades in Europe, the food sector has witnessed a profusion of initiatives bringing producers and consumers close (or closer). From ‘alternative food networks' (or systems) contesting the mainstream agro-industrial model (Renting et al., 2003) to traditional ‘short food supply chains' experiencing a revival in Europe (Kneafsey, 2015; Chiffoleau, 2017), all of these initiatives, regardless of their origin or initial intention, present a common point: a ‘promise of difference’, compared to long supply chains. That is ‘a promise of another mode of organising production, exchanges and/or food consumption, and the promise of associated benefits' (Le Velly, 2017). The general organisation of alternative or short food systems has thus been extensively described (Deverre and Lamine, 2010), feeding a debate about their ‘alterity’ (Holloway et al., 2007; Constance et al., 2014). These works, nevertheless, say little about the social processes which have built their alterity, whether ‘strong’ or ‘weak’. Little is said about the tensions that may have emerged, the compromises that have been made during this construction, especially with regards to the economic dimension. This longitudinal approach, which is attentive to the social processes underlying the economic dimension, proves useful, not only to better understand the emergence of ‘hybrid’ food systems, which combine alternative and conventional attributes (Le Velly and Dufeu, 2016), but also to explore the transformative potential of a diversity of short food supply chains, beyond those classified as alternative (Kneafsey, 2015).
In this paper, we propose to analyse the social construction of ‘new’ economic patterns which differ from the mainstream model in two cases of market initiatives based on close relations between producers and consumers: an open-air market in France, and a partnership between a cooperative and several GAS (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale - solidarity-based purchase groups1) in Italy. We use here the notion ‘short food supply chain’ (SFC) to address these two initiatives as well as all the ‘alternative’ food systems (or networks) mentioned in the literature, as the common feature they all share is that they reduce the number of intermediaries between producer and consumer even though their alterity may be discussed. Then, considering SFCs as economic organisations, we use the two cases to highlight how, and under which conditions, they evolve as social spaces where new economic models are discussed and jointly created over time, addressing new indicators of wealth (Gadrey and Jany-Catrice, 2006) beyond mere turnover. The original aspect of our contribution is thus to explore some of the paths through which ‘another economy’ (Laville and Cattani, 2005) is being built in short food supply chains, as well as to propose criteria on which ‘new economic models’ can be analysed and assessed in, and from, these chains. Moreover, by showing how these economic models are fuelled by and dependent on the interactions between ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ actors, our work opens new perspectives for food democracy. This notion, which appeared at the end of the 1990s, refers in broad strokes to a condition in which citizens regain control over their food and their food systems (Lang, 1998). Whether considered from a regulatory perspective (ibid.), or in concrete local situations (Hassanein, 2003), food democracy refers to the capacity of citizens to take part in the decision-making about food production and consumption practices. Nevertheless, the way this participation can be expanded beyond ‘enlightened’ citizens and build new economic patterns still needs to be explored (Booth and Coveney, 2015).
In the first section, we briefly go back to previous works on the economic dimension of alternative food networks, local or short food supply chains, to stress how this dimension has been analysed and to position our own contribution. In the second section, we introduce our framework of analysis, combining contributions from sociology and economics. In the third section, we present the trajectories of two SFCs as economic organisations confronted with challenges and designed by social interactions. In the fourth section, by comparing the two cases, we open two lines of discussion: the first one about the ‘new’ economic models that are set up through the two initiatives; the second about the nature and the role of participation in the construction of new economic patterns.
Section snippets
The economic dimension of SFCs as described in the literature: a review
Studying the economic dimension of SFCs is not an easy task since markets are conceived as complex social spaces in which different actors interact and may jointly define essential issues regarding the process of selling and buying (White, 1981). In the food sector this conception results in the active construction of networks by various actors of the agrofood chain, such as farmers, food processors, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers (Renting et al., 2003). Over the last few years,
SFCs as economic organisations: a combination of lines of research
Although recent works on SFCs both address the interplay between the economic and the social aspects, and economic issues, more attention must be paid to their social construction, especially regarding the economic dimension. SFCs must be further analysed as economic organisations in which basic economic features such as prices, margins, governance structure, etc. are defined and negotiated throughout their trajectory. To capture their potential as ‘new’ economic models, new criteria must also
Renewing the traditional open-air market economic pattern: the Grabels market case
‘Grabels market’ is an open-air market created in 2008 in the small town of Grabels (7000 inhabitants) located in the suburbs of the city of Montpellier (500,000 inhabitants) in the south of France. By implementing a market in Grabels, the newly elected local authorities (municipality) aimed at reviving its dormant peri-urban town, giving middle to low-income inhabitants the opportunity to obtain fresher and better products at reasonable prices, while supporting local small-scale sustainable
Towards a ‘moral economy’?
The comparison of the two stories shows how the development of new economic patterns is embedded in social relations, which provide – in both cases – the ground for trust, transparency, mutual acknowledgment and learning. These latter aspects reflect social ends that are (or become) important for the actors, while at the same time enacting the principle of new economic models that address new indicators of wealth, and designing new types of ‘market relations’ between farmers, consumers and
Conclusion
The economic dimension of SFCs, within a European context marked by a profusion of initiatives aimed at bringing producers and consumers closer, still feeds a debate focused on its alterity (Le Velly, 2017), leaving its social construction under-researched. From an original framework, based on New Economic Sociology and Convention Theory, enriched as well by Social and Solidarity Economics, we have analysed the social construction of two ‘alternative’ economic models in two cases of SFCs. We
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