[Foodplanning] article for FoodNews?

[Joseph Nasr]

The following may be of interest.
Joe

Joe Nasr
joenasr at compuserve.com
(alternates: joenasr at cyberia.net.lb
                  jnasr at ryerson.ca)

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From the journal _European Urban and Regional Studies_
Vol. 13, n. 4 (Oct. 2006): pp. 337-354 

Regional Economies of Local Food Production 
Tracing Food Chain Links Between ‘Specialist’ Producers and Intermediaries
in the Scottish–English Borders 

Damian Maye 
Coventry University, UK 

Brian Ilbery 
Coventry University, UK 

There is currently strong political desire at both European and national
scales to ‘relocalize’ food production and supply. While advocacy remains
high, few studies have interrogated the form of these ‘new’ food chains.
This article provides an analysis of such chains in the Scottish–English
borders. It traces supply links between small-scale ‘specialist’ food
producers and associated intermediaries for three product sectors. Linking
the two stages of the food chain together, the analysis shows differences
within and between, as well as similarities across, sectors in terms of
spatial and economic organization. It also reveals the ‘hybrid’ nature of
specialist food chains in the region; local producers have created their
own ‘niche spaces’ within the food system.The article thus contributes to
debates on new agro-food geographies and regional economic geography and
argues that local (specialist) small-scale enterprises do not usually
establish food chains which are ‘independent’ of the wider food supply
system. 


Key Words: food chains • hybridity • local food • Scottish–English borders
• specialist products

http://eur.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/4/337