Do short food supply chains go hand in hand with environment-friendly practices? An analysis of French farms

Abstract

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘Do short food supply chains go hand in hand with environment-friendly practices?’ presented at the ‘International Association of Agricultural Economists (ICAE) Conference’, Milan, Italy, 9–14 August 2015.This article deals with the presumed relationship between environment-friendly practices, such as organic farming, and the adoption of short food supply chains at farm level. These two patterns of production and distribution appear to be linked because they meet the consumers' expectations in terms of quality and proximity. Calling on the literature, we formulate hypotheses regarding the combined adoption of organic farming and short food supply chains. An econometric model with simultaneous equations measures the close link between the environmental quality of production and vertical integration. The data are drawn from the 2010 census of French farms which provides a full overview of practices implemented by producers. Particular attention is paid to wine-growing and arboriculture which correspond to farms most concerned by organic farming. The results show that when a farmer practises organic farming, the farm becomes integrated and conversely when a farm is integrated, the farmer is likely to adopt organic farming

Short food supply chains and the issue of sustainability: a case study of French fruit producers

“…Such a practice can take many forms, including reasoned practices or the implementation of organic farming (Aubert and Enjolras, 2016;Wiese et al, 2012). In the same vein, a significant negative relationship appears to exist between the adoption of SFSCs and the intensity of use of phytosanitary products (Aubert and Enjolras, 2017).…”

“…Bloemhof et al (2015), Galli et al (2015) and Yakovleva (2007) In addition to the presentation of descriptive statistics for each score and its components, a simultaneous equations model is developed on the basis of the scores calculated. Simultaneous equations models can be used if there are interactions between variables of interest (Aubert and Enjolras, 2016). In our case, there is a potential interaction between the economic, environmental and 7 social scores.…”

“…Most existing studies have indeed focused on only one aspect of the sustainability of SFSCs, primarily the environmental pillar (Aubert and Enjolras, 2016;Maréchal and Spanu, 2010;Penker, 2006;Wiese et al, 2012Wiese et al, , 2015 followed by the social pillar (Langhade, 2010;Renting et al, 2003;Wiese et al, 2012Wiese et al, , 2015 and the economic pillar (Ahearn and Sterns, 2013;Kneafsey et al, 2013;Park et al, 2014). By contrast, few studies have simultaneously considered two or three traditional pillars of sustainability (Hernandez et al, 2012;Mastronardi et al, 2015;Matos and Hall, 2007;Yakovleva, 2007).…”

Small Farm Business Analysis Using the AHP Model for Efficient Assessment of Distribution Channels

“…However, as they underline, the development of AFNs is not just a matter of farmers' choice; it is also a result of interaction between farmers oriented to quality production and consumers willing to pay more for environmentally friendly local products [13]. Aubert and Enjolras questioned the relationship between environment-friendly practices, such as organic farming and the adoption of short food supply chains (SFSC) at farm level, focusing on farms specializing in wine-growing and arboriculture [31]. They demonstrated that farmers who adopt an organic farming label are more likely to sell their products through short supply chains, while farmers who sell their products using this channel are more likely to implement environment-friendly practices [31].…”

“…Aubert and Enjolras questioned the relationship between environment-friendly practices, such as organic farming and the adoption of short food supply chains (SFSC) at farm level, focusing on farms specializing in wine-growing and arboriculture [31]. They demonstrated that farmers who adopt an organic farming label are more likely to sell their products through short supply chains, while farmers who sell their products using this channel are more likely to implement environment-friendly practices [31]. In addition, the study confirms that environment-friendly practices are more likely to be implemented by younger producers who are furthermore better educated and claim to work more on their farm.…”