Quality, Nature, and Embeddedness: Some Theoretical Considerations in the Context of the Food Sector

Abstract

In this paper we analyze a turn to "quality" in both food production and consumption. We argue that quality in the food sector, as it is being asserted at the present time, is closely linked to nature and the local embeddedness of supply chains. We thus outline the broad contours of this shift and discuss the most appropriate theoretical approaches. We consider political economy, actor-network theory, and conventions theory and argue that, whereas political economy has proved useful in the analysis of globalization, it may prove less so in the examination of quality. We concentrate, therefore, upon actor-network theory and conventions theory and show that the former allows nature to be brought to the center of analytical attention but provides few tools for the analysis of quality, especially in the context of the food sector. Conventions theory, on the other hand, links together a range of aspects found in food supply chains and allows us to consider the establishment of quality as a system of negotiation between specific qualities. We illustrate possible uses of the approach through a brief consideration of food supply chains in Wales.

Implications of Local and Regional Food Systems: Toward a New Food Economy in Portland, Oregon

“…Dissembeded information used for food safety (Low & Vogel, 2009) product oriented (Feenstra et al, 2003;Ibery & Maye, 2005) Retail influenced (Fearne & Hughes, 1999) Low tech, inefficient distribution systems Mechanized / industrialized (Gibbon, 2003) Products Quality, nature and embeddedness (Murdoch et al, 2000;) Dissembedded…”

“…These stem from three dominant theories: political economy which situates the food regime as partly about international relations of food, and partly about the world food economy and regulation of the food regime underpins and reflects changing balances of power among states, organized national lobbies, classes-farmers, workers, peasants and capital (Friedmann, 2005); rural sociology which contextualizes alternative systems as a form of resistance against the globally connected, agro-food industry and the failures of that system and; actor network theory (e.g. Murdoch et al 2000;Goodman 2003;Selfa amd Qazi 2005) in which localized forms of food systems are defined by the value of the networks and the relative importance of how actors in the system construct notions of local. I draw on each of these theories to characterize differences between the global and local food systems.…”

“…The research stemming from the agro-food literature draws on a wide array of theoretical frames including social theory and economic sociology (Kloppenberg et al 1996;Murdoch et al 2000;Hendrickson and Heffernan 2002;Hinrichs 2003;Jaroz 2008), actor network theory (Goodman 1999;Murdoch et al 2000;Selfa amd Qazi 2005) and political economy (Murdoch et al 2000;Allen et al 2003;Winter 2003) among others.…”

“…The major trends in the food industry over the last 50 years has led to a broad shift toward transnationalization and globalization that has been integrated into a set of transnational and transectoral production process (Murdoch et al, 2000) and global commodity chains. These global commodity chains are sector-based structures of international trade, arising from the twin phenomena of dispersal of production (through outsourcing) and market integration (through trade liberalization) (Gibbon, 2003).…”

“…These global commodity chains are sector-based structures of international trade, arising from the twin phenomena of dispersal of production (through outsourcing) and market integration (through trade liberalization) (Gibbon, 2003). Like processes of modernization, analysts see globalization in the food sector as derived from agencies which aim to promote new inter-linkages between the principal actors (e.g., farmers, processors, and retailers), spread new uses and forms of knowledge (linked especially to science and technology), and establish new commodity forms within mass markets (Murdoch et al, 2000).…”