Short Supply Chains, Food Authenticity, and Sustainable Agriculture

Dear Colleagues,

Few scholars would disagree that the sustainability of our food consumption is an important goal for humanity, and many strategies have been proposed to achieve this sustainability. Prominent among these strategies is the concept of short supply chains, but research into the potential of short supply chains for solving issues of sustainability in agriculture and food authenticity is far from complete. This Special Issue welcomes contributions that examine short supply chains and their surrounding sustainability issues. Research subjects can include, but are not limited to:

• The areas where sustainability is positively impacted by shortening supply chains, such as reducing carbon emissions, stimulating local economies, etc.
• Impacts of shortening supply chains on our consumption behavior and the impact of short supply chains compared with other aspects of consumption, such as seasonal consumption, dietary changes, etc.
• The sustainability trade-offs or barriers for implementing short supply chains, such as the high time investment for direct sales, more workload for women, institutional barriers, etc., and how to remove such barriers, such as embedding short supply chains into food policy, processing industry engagement, creating hubs for institutional buyers, establishing food policy councils, etc.
• The contribution and extent of impact of community supported agriculture (CSA) on food integrity and short supply chains.
• The enablers and barriers for CSA, such as access to land for consumer-driven CSA, farmers’ attitudes, urban areas, etc.

Dr. Robert Home
Mr. Jan Landert
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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