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Building from existing literature on anthropology of food, political economy of food and consumption, and social movement theory, I examine the direct agriculture network of Tampa Bay Florida through a mixed-method ethnography. The research consisted of one year of field-work, with 6 months and over 100 hours of active participant observation, open-ended interviews with eight local producers, and short surveys with 100 market patrons. This thesis is an analysis of the results of this rigorous qualitative and quantitative work and, perhaps more importantly, an account of my own personal struggles in joining the direct agriculture network and my ultimate commitment to the movement. This report documents one student's transition from a researcher to an activist, finally settling in a local place that occupies both worlds in an effort to help increase the accessibility of others who wish to join the movement; an equal access based not only on economic capital, but also social and cultural capital in order to sustain an alternative food social movement.

As conceptions of citizenship and the political evolve, alternative modes and sites of political engagement can be identified. The definition of citizenship has evolved from limited civil and political rights to include social, environmental, and individual responsibilities. Modes of political participation have similarly evolved from voting and political party activity to also include a broad array of individual actions, such as voluntary work. Therefore, this thesis argues that the location of politics and citizenship has shifted away from traditional state institutions toward alternative spaces, such as farmer’s markets. Drawing on Engin Isin’s (2002, 2009) analyses of citizenship as constructed norms and identities, and the political as a challenge to those dominant norms, this thesis uses interviews with farmers’ market participants in the Greater Victoria Region to explore how farmers’ markets can be seen as political, both in the motivations of participants and the associated values of broader food movements. / Graduate

In October 2012, then-Mayor Kevin Johnson, surrounded by the region’s chefs, restaurateurs, and others working in the food arena, proclaimed the City of Sacramento “America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital.” The basis for the designation, in part, was Sacramento’s geographic proximity to agricultural production. With more than 50 farmers markets and between 7,000 – 8,000 acres of “boutique farms” in the region, the Mayor stated the designation would be more than “simply a marketing campaign.” Based on interviews with a wide variety of people working in “local food” (including a non-profit organization with a mission to get kids to eat their vegetables, large corporations, and small businesses) this thesis will explore the concept of local food in Sacramento, the Farm-to-Fork movement and what it has meant for the region. With an annual festival that has seen increased attendance in each of its five years, from an estimated 50,000 people the first year, to 75,000 people in 2016, the designation branded Sacramento as a food destination city bringing visitors and their dollars as intended. Beyond a well-attended festival, what has the history behind the title of America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital meant to the local food system and how has it impacted local farmers, chefs, restaurateurs and those whose livelihoods are closely tied to food?

This study evaluates the public market system in New Orleans, Louisiana by focusing on the history of New Orleans public markets, the privatization of food, and the "greening" of the city with the creation of the Crescent City Farmers Market and other grass roots food activist efforts. Using qualitative methods, ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation and interviewing, issues of food access, food security, food production, food locality, quality, and affordability in New Orleans are explored. The history of public markets in New Orleans and the patterns of market proliferation, regulation, and privatization are significant in the landscape of cultural self-identification, community cohesion, neighborhood networks and economic and ecological development and sustainability. The city's various food shopping arenas and their locations become markers of history, status, rebellion, and of the "other," and become centers for issues of health, economy, politics, and food.

Gli scenari agricoli europei rivelano un crescente interesse per le filiere corte come strumento di promozione dei sistemi alimentari locali. Nonostante i piccoli agricoltori siano la spina dorsale dell'agricoltura europea, gli interventi politici e legislativi che si sono susseguiti nei decenni non hanno sufficientemente tutelato ne promosso la loro attuale posizione in ambito socio-economico. Il presente lavoro mira a fornire un'approfondita analisi del ruolo delle filiere corte all'interno del quadro normativo europeo per comprendere se l’attuale legislazione sostiene o piuttosto inibisce questi sistemi alternativi di produzione e distribuzione alimentare. Muovendo dall'esame della pletora di definizioni attribuite alla filiera corta e soffermandosi su una revisione critica delle più significative riforme della PAC, in particolare alla luce della strategia 'Farm to Fork', vengono identificate nuove priorità che appaiono più favorevoli ai piccoli agricoltori. Lo studio è arrichito da un confronto tra l'approccio adottoato dell'UE - caratterizzato principalmente da strumenti di hard law e misure top-down -, e quello della California ‘socialmente auto-regolato’, in cui gli 'Alternative Food Movements' e le strategie bottom-up sono attori principali nella regolamentazione della filiere corte e del loro impatto sulla comunità. Lo scopo finale é quello di identificare potenziali elementi utili che, se adottati, potrebbero migliorare il modello europeo. / European agricultural landscapes are undergoing fundamental changes, revealing an increasing interest in Short Food Supply Chains as a tool to promote local food systems and products. Despite small farmers are the backbone of agriculture in the EU, both policy leadership and legal interventions have been not sufficiently fostering their position in the socio and economic today’s narrative. The study aims at providing an extensive analysis of the role of SFSCs within the EU legal framework to understand whether EU legislation supports or rather inhibits these alternative systems of production and supply. Moving from the examination of the plethora of SFSC definitions to a critical revision of the most significant CAP reforms, especially in the light of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy, new priorities that seem more favorable to small farmers are identified. The study is enriched by a comparison between the EU legal approach - mainly characterized by hard law instruments and top-down measures -, and the Californian ‘socially self-regulated’ approach, where Alternative Food Movements and bottom-up strategies act as the main player in regulating SFSCs and their impact on the community with the aim of identifying potential insights that could improve the EU model.