The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development recently announced two special topic calls for papers on Food System Planning Theory and Practice and The Essential Principles of Small- and Mid-Scale Food Value Chain.
Food System Planning Theory and Practice
Manuscripts are due April 20, 2011
Food Systems Planning is a nascent field in the planning profession. Considered a more or less free market concern, planners have, until recently, largely ignored food production, distribution, and consumption sectors. However, bolstered by growing societal concerns about the equity and environmental sustainability of the global food system, planners are becoming increasingly engaged in local efforts to analyze and address food system challenges and opportunities.
In additional to planning professionals, food system planning is increasingly practiced by architects, landscape architects, and a growing number of nongovernmental organizations and public agencies. In this special topic focus, we encourage practicing planners and other professionals who are engaged in food system planning, as well as planning scholars and students, to submit applied research–based papers such as case studies, surveys, focus groups and the like as well as commentary and reflective essays on a wide range of topics.
The Essential Principles of Small- and Mid-Scale Food Value Chain
Manuscripts are due February 15, 2011
Food value chains (FVCs) are a hot topic among agriculture and food systems development professionals. In FVCs, farmers and ranchers are treated as strategic partners, not as interchangeable — and exploitable — input suppliers. Values-based food supply chains (value chains) are strategic alliances between farms, ranches, and other supply-chain partners who distribute rewards equitably across the supply chain. They can include farm-to-institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons), multiproducer processors and wholesalers, multifarm CSAs, food hubs, food webs and networks, and the like. All partners in these business alliances recognize that creating maximum value for the product depends on significant interdependence, collaboration, and mutual support.
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