Agriculture in an Urbanizing Society
International Conference on Multifunctional Agriculture and Urban-Rural Relations
The Netherlands | 1 - 4 April 2012
“Loneliness is for the spirit,
what food is to the body.”
(Seneca)
Perspectives on the Solidarity Economy in
Marche, Italy: hypothesis on the role of
agriculture and food consumption
Authors:
Matteo Belletti
The Polytechnic University of Marche
m.belletti@univpm.it
Lucia Mancini
European Commission (JRC, Ispra)
luciamancini25@gmail.com
WG3 - Exploring “civic food networks” and their role in enabling sustainable urban food systems.1
Session 4, Tuesday 3th of April, 2012
Contents
1. The research
2. Results
3. Interpretation of the results
4. Conclusions
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1. The research
3
Objectives
• Interpreting the food supply chain of the Italian “GAS”
solidarity purchasing groups (Brunori et al., 2012) ...
– The food economy within GAS experience
– Food quality differentiation within GAS
– Environmental impact of food purchased through GAS
– Key elements emerging from GAS practice
• ... within a wider context of “change” focussing on a
process of cooperation among Universities and Civil Society
– The active role of University in supporting the process
– The strategy
– Planning
4
Methodology
• Exploratory structure aimed at investigating the three basic
elements constituting the “GAS food supply chain”:
– GAS, as food retailer
– Supply, farmers delivering GASs
– Demand, GAS Household Members (GHM)
• Data collection
– Face to face quanti-qualitative interviews to a quota-sample of:
• 20 GASs
• 182 GHMs
• 20 farmers delivering GASs (in-depth interview too)
• Data analysis
– GAS economic reading:
• GAS market behaviour: income statement on supply, PCA
on demand
• GAS ecological assessment: Material Input per Service Unit
(MIPS, Lettenmeier et al., 2009)
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2. Results
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The GAS
as food retailer
• GAS average size:
– 70 households,
– range min-max 12-190 households,
– 50% of them (GASs) consisting of 33 to 95 households
• GAS household size:
– Average family size approaching three members
• Household food expenditure through the GAS :
– On average 130 Euros per month, accounting for ca. 20% of the
average food expenditure of Italian households (Istat, 2011).
– 25% of the GHM interviewed said their food bill is 200 to 500
Euros per month
– 53% of the GHM interviewed stated that the GAS is the main
channel for their food purchases.
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Supply
• Farmer type A: having GAS as the main outlet;
• Farmer type B: providing only surpluses from his
other market channels to GAS;
• Farmer type C: using GAS together with and
complementarily to other SFSC (e.g. farm outlet
for direct selling, direct selling to school
refectories, etc.).
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Demand
• Family replacement capacity of conventional distribution
with GAS distribution:
– The highest substitution capability of GAS in Marche, Italy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
pasta
rice
flours
other cereal derivatives
extra virgin olive oil
Honey
sugar
coffee, tea & other non-alcoholic beverages
 The simultaneous growth in GAS purchasing of different
product categories is related to products requiring little
organisational capacity in terms of distribution and
intermediaries:
 stockable no perishable products, requiring less frequent
restocking; ii)
 typical local products that are easily purchased in farms
found close to towns; and iii)
 products easily bought from fair trade outlets.
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GAS
Ecological assessment
Figure 1. The systems under
investigation
 GAS Eco-efficiency:
 Negative with regard to
the GAS biotic dimension:
mainly linked to the lower
yields of agronomic
organic practice and the
substitution of chemical
inputs with vegetal and
animal biomass
 Positive with regard to i)
GAS abiotic dimension, ii)
air, iii) water, elements
Source: our elaboration
mainly related to the
avoidance of
agrochemicals and
shortening of the supply
chain
 Result (biotic+abiotic)10
= +10% eco-gain
3. Interpretation
of the results
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Our own
“Truman Show”
• Issue n.1
 In which part of the film are we working?
- Truman’s awareness (bounded rationality)
• Issue n.2
 Will our hero survive the storm in his small boat Santa
Maria?
- Truman’s determination (impact on supply chain)
• Issue n.3
 Will our hero choose to EXIT?
- Truman’s freedom (willingness to pay for the change)
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Christof’s control
• Issue n.1
 The Italian agri-food market
• Agricultural income (figure 2)
• Ecological statement
• Issue n.2
 The GAS market functioning
• The hidden effect of competition on quality-price ratio
is a sensitive spread between supply and demand values
(as show by figure 3)
• Issue n.3
 The price and quality relationship
• Quality labels and certificates are among the most widely used methods
to compensate for information asymmetry in food markets. Nevertheless
food safety (along with quality certification and environmental impact of
production) remains a credence attribute (Poulton and Lyne, 2009).
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Remember
Farmer type C
SFSC
“income generation”
Figure 2. Horticultural product-mix price and incidence of Family
Farm Labour Opportunity Cost (FFLOC) on Average Total Cost
(ATC) in Marche, Italy (Euros per kilogram)
Source: our elaboration
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Remember
Farmer type B
The price and quality relationship
Figure 3. Price trend for wheat and pasta in Italy (€/Kg)
Sept-10
Oct-10
Nov-10
Conventional wheat
wheat
Conventional
Organic wheat
Conventional pasta
Organic pasta
Source: ISMEA (2011)
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Towards the EXIT
• Issue n.1
 Prices
• SFSC seems to be a necessary condition to face the ecological dimension
of agricultural sustainability issues but is not sufficient to solve the
economic problems of farm households. As a result, Gas household
members should shift their focus from the prices to price construction.
• Issue n.2
 Market organization
• The GAS movement should veer towards a system of self-certification for
food, maybe at a regional level, based on taking into account two key
elements of agri-food chain suitability in the short and in the long run.
The first, at a strictly agronomical level, is the local climate and habitat.
The second, at a wide ecological level, is the entire agri-food supply
chain structure, highlighting the crucial role of agricultural inputs.
• Issue n.3
 Quality
• It can be argued that competitive market behaviour and ecological
balance are two key elements regarding which GAS should not rely on
labels as a guarantee of differentiation, and this is true the more
extensive the area in which the label works (as EU organic farming). 16
“In case I don't see you ... good afternoon, good evening, and good night”
(Truman Burbank alias Jim Carrey, The Truman Show, 1998)
...and thanks for your unusual concentration!
Work in progress
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