Utilizing a multiple account benefit-cost framework, this paper will identify and examine three different types of certifications in Ontario: market-driven, regulatory and voluntary. These three types of certification will provide the basis for the analysis of the distribution of benefits and costs in certification programs in the following three case studies: Local Food Plus, Canadian Quality Milk and the Canada- Ontario Environmental Farm Plan. From farmer to fork, the benefits and costs of certifications will be analyzed and best practices from these case studies will be identified. Indicators for success in certifications and recommendations for application in Ontario will be explored. / University of Guelph/ Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Research Program

Consumer concerns regarding food safety and quality, a crippling farm crisis across North America, and growing criticisms of the environmental consequences of intensive agricultural practices are leading to increased scrutiny of the dominant, industrialized food system. Faced with uncertainty, many communities are pioneering new, decentralized models of food production, with a view to designing systems that are more economically, ecologically and socially sustainable. At their essence, these local food systems appear to embody a new form of ‘capitalism’, one that values, depends upon, and seeks to strengthen or preserve all stocks of community capital: natural, human, social, and economic. Employing a case study approach, this research explores ways in which a local food system’s development depends upon the interplay of a community’s capital stocks, as well as ways in which a local food system may serve as a site for the creation or strengthening of these capital stocks, with a particular focus on social capital. The two communities studied are: Kingston, Ontario and Hardwick, Vermont. Both communities have been actively pursuing local-food system development through various initiatives. Face-to-face interviews, participant observations, and a review of written information served as the main sources of data for this study. A conceptual framework was also developed and served to guide the research, including the analysis of findings. Case study findings revealed the interdependent nature of community capital stocks, highlighting the importance of maintaining or enhancing all capital stocks over time. Social capital proved to be particularly integral to development efforts, with social networks sourcing economic and human capital for local-food system initiatives. Notably, many of the local-food initiatives carried out served to strengthen social and human capital, highlighting the potential for a restorative system. Overall, findings suggest that a more all-encompassing valuation of capital stocks is necessary to capture the ways in which a local-food system can contribute to community betterment and sustainability. It is anticipated that the case studies of Kingston and Hardwick will provide practitioners and scholars with insight regarding how community capital stocks are deployed and created through local-food initiatives. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-12-22 10:27:57.831

A report on social consequences of neoliberal trade policies and the commodification of food, and the international efforts of small farmers to counteract the worst of these consequences. Social justice movements like fair trade and local food have emerged with the aim to expose the direct impacts on food producers. These movements co-exist while achieving their respective and mutual goals. Themes explored are: the fight against neoliberal globalization and mainstream trade, labour practices (workers' rights, fair wages, safe work environments,) sustainability (environmental practices, food security,) community and economic development and consumer awareness of aforementioned issues. Although these are global issues, close attention is paid to recent mobilization efforts in Canada and Manitoba among small food producers, farmers’ unions and related non-government organizations.

Local food networks (LFNs) have engendered a great deal of debate in the food justice community; scholars and activists are dubious about the potential of LFNs to contribute to the subversion of the very hierarchies of privilege that created the need for the food justice movement. Using a case study of the Claremont, California area local food network, I operationalize a definition of LFNs, defining them by the people, activities, and exchanges involved in the local food network. I provide a grounded view of these three facets of the Claremont area local food network to analyze the extent to which the network both perpetuates and subverts hierarchies of privilege. About 40 ethnographic interviews with key players in the Claremont area local food network show that the network is a patchwork of identities, values, goals, methods, interactions, and outcomes. The subversion and perpetuation of hierarchies of privilege occur simultaneously in nearly every part of the local food network, and the network has potential to enhance the subversive aspects to work towards a larger political challenge.

Across the US, support is ever-growing for the local food movement. This growing trend promotes food security, supports farming families, ensures universal access to safe and healthy food products, enhances local economies, and encourages environmental and social well-being. People around the US are implementing sustainable local food systems as a means of meeting their individual community’s needs. While this movement is being popularized dramatically around the world, many cities and regions have yet to address it. This study reviews the existing literature on local food system models in an effort to answer the research question: What are the “ingredients” of a healthy local food system? The local food system of Owensboro, KY was analyzed via interviews with key players in its food system. In addition, experts in this field at the state level were also interviewed to understanding the functions of and the degree of support for local food systems in KY. Recommendations were then made for the city of Owensboro on how to further enhance its local food system into one of greater vibrancy and overall health.

This study analyzed the perceptions of Kentucky Homebased Processors and Microprocessors of the benefits of and barriers to developing and selling value-added products. The final sample consisted of 141 participants, 60.5% (n=72) of which were from Central KY, 26.9% (n=32) were from Western KY, and 12.6% (n=15) were from Eastern KY. Overall, participants seemed to feel that their value-added products were successful in many different benefit categories. The primary barriers to developing value-added products were lack of time, lack of funding, and lack of legal knowledge. The primary barriers to utilizing program resources for farmers were not having enough time, being unaware of the services offered, and programs being too far away. The information found by this study can be used to determine the addressable needs in different regions of Kentucky and assist programs in making their services more available and applicable to Kentucky farm entrepreneurs.

This study explores the relation between meanings attached to food and sustainable food consumption. Specifically, this study examines how personal relationships between food producers and their consumers have an influence on how those consumers experience their own food consumption. Using a phenomenological approach, a number of consumers in Uppsala with various types of relationships to the producers of the food they consume were interviewed regarding their food habits and food related activities. Two groups of consumers with different kinds of relationships were chosen, and are as described: involvement in consumer-initiated alternative food networks (Group A), and no relationship at all to the producers (Group B). The observations and answers were analysed in order to detect meaning behind the interviewees' experiences of their food consumption. The meaning detected in the research material relates to giving and receiving food as a gift, how food products are valued and trust between consumer and food producer. Respondents with a connection to the producers of their food products connected meaningfulness with food related activities and with the people behind the food production. The more meaning people find in their food, the larger the increase of the potential benefits of socialisation, preservation of food techniques and food related culture. This findings result in a strong argument for creating greater consumer engagement in food networks to increase sustainability in the food system.

Food systems and health systems are interdependent. Historically, however, strategies that focused on the development of these systems evolved in isolation from one another. Non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes have an etiology that is strongly linked to food systems. Type 2 diabetes is taking an ever-increasing toll on health, and health systems, globally, and in Canada. In response, health professional organizations propose an advocacy approach to improve food system characteristics linked to the development of diabetes. Opportunities for, and barriers to, such initiatives have not yet been examined in the health geography literature. The primary objective of this dissertation is to contribute to the development of a framework for action for nutrition educators working in rural areas to use to promote local sustainable food systems. The ultimate objective is to improve the diet, and by extension, the health of those suffering from type 2 diabetes. As part of the research approach, a gendered analysis was employed for the following reasons: First, labour around food production, food procurement and food preparation and health care work is provided predominantly by women. Second, there is a gendered profile of pattern of illness and access to care for people with type 2 diabetes. The research methodology was comprised of a case study and mixed methods approach. Nineteen communities in southwestern Ontario were selected for inclusion in the case study using criteria based on the Rurality Index of Ontario. Data were collected through extensive literature reviews, 34 semi-structured interviews with health professionals, a survey of 24 people afflicted with type 2 diabetes and ‘in situ’ observations. Analysis of the findings using grounded theory techniques, such as iterative coding, revealed barriers to, and opportunities for, supporting local sustainable food systems by area health professionals working at local, regional and national scales. This thesis provides important information about gender roles, community capacity, sense of community, and health professional training that should be considered in the development of policies to promote local sustainable food systems.

A report on social consequences of neoliberal trade policies and the commodification of food, and the international efforts of small farmers to counteract the worst of these consequences. Social justice movements like fair trade and local food have emerged with the aim to expose the direct impacts on food producers. These movements co-exist while achieving their respective and mutual goals. Themes explored are: the fight against neoliberal globalization and mainstream trade, labour practices (workers' rights, fair wages, safe work environments,) sustainability (environmental practices, food security,) community and economic development and consumer awareness of aforementioned issues. Although these are global issues, close attention is paid to recent mobilization efforts in Canada and Manitoba among small food producers, farmers’ unions and related non-government organizations.

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