“Agriculture of the middle” as a new understanding of Rhône-Alpes Agriculture?

Abstract

Agriculture of the middle » désigne, dans le contexte nord-américain, des systèmes alimentaires qui se positionnent entre marché des commodités et circuits courts. L'objectif de cet article est de décrypter ce que recouvre cette notion aux États-Unis puis d'examiner comment, en enrichissant les questionnements produits par les travaux sur les circuits courts et les circuits de proximité, elle interroge et permet d'éclairer l'organisation de systèmes agri-alimentaires émergeant en ex-région Rhône-Alpes à l'interface entre circuits courts et circuits longs. Après avoir mis en perspective la notion d'agriculture du milieu avec des concepts plus connus en France, ceux de circuit de proximité, de système alimentaire localisé (SYAL) et de système alimentaire territorialisé (SAT), les auteurs proposent la notion de Systèmes alimentaires du milieu (SYAM) pour appréhender ces situations d'entre-deux. MOTS-CLÉS : agriculture du milieu, système alimentaire, circuit court, Rhône-Alpes "Agriculture of the middle" as a new understanding of Rhône-Alpes Agriculture? In North America, the notion of "Agriculture of the middle" has been proposed to deine food systems between commodities market and short supply chains. The objective of this article is irst to understand what the reality of Agriculture of the middle in the USA is. Authors evaluate the relevance of the concept to further extend the results on alternative food systems studies and to analyze new forms of agri-food systems emerging in Rhône-Alpes. After a comparison of agriculture of the middle with several concepts in use in France, the notion of "Food system of the middle" is introduced to understand these in between systems. (JEL: L1, R11).

Untitled

“…The ranchers in the two initiatives were very similar to the ones targeted by some American researchers concerned about the survival of an agriculture of the middle (Lyson et al, 2008;; see also Brives et al, 2017). First of all, these ranchers did not come from "alternative" networks, such as those organized around organic agriculture.…”

How to create intermediated local food system partnerships? Collective performance, collective negotiation, and collective learning

“…The ranchers in the two initiatives were very similar to the ones targeted by some American researchers concerned about the survival of an agriculture of the middle (Lyson et al, 2008;Peterson et al, 2022; see also Brives et al, 2017). First of all, these ranchers did not come from "alternative" networks, such as those organized around organic agriculture.…”

Coexistence of supply chains in a city’s food supply: a factor for resilience?

“…With regard to urban food policies, more directly, and the relocation issues often associated with them, our analysis confirms the important role of economic intermediaries (retailers, wholesalers, etc.) in enhancing the value of local agriculture (Praly et al 2014;Brives et al 2017;Loconto et al 2018), even if different values may be associated. Those actors are still scarcely considered in the literature on alternative food systems and hardly considered by public actors and citizens committed to relocation (Brand 2015;Baritaux and Billion 2018).…”