Scholarly record
ASSESSING TRANSITIONS TO SUSTAINABLE AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS: A LEGAL PROSPECTIVE
Abstract
The global food system faces environmental, social and legal challenges. Primary production has become increasingly dependent on external inputs from industrial companies, which contribute to the rising cost of nutritious food and decreasing the income of producers, particularly the producers in primary production. Adopting alternative models of short food supply chains can reduces those negative effects and moves the agri-food supply chain towards some Agenda 2030 sustainable developments goals and aims of European Strategies in the agrifood field. The present paper analyses the benefits of a short food supply chain model, the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), whereby the farm receives financial support from the consumer community and offers to customers the access to nutritious and seasonal food. From a legal perspective, the CSA model presents several benefits, including increased agricultural productivity, highfarmer income, fast direct marketing and sharing business risks between farmers and consumers. Furthermore, the CSA model is aligned with several sustainable development goals set out in the mission вЂZero Hunger’. The paper highlights benefits and limits of CSA as production and consumption model and its capability to satisfy the interests of producers, who receive maximum profit from their work, and consumers, whose consumption choices reduce environmental impacts. Some of the limitations of CSA arise from the lack of legislation governing this model. Indeed, despite its prevalence in Europe, CSA has not been formally regulated by European legal systems. In the CSA, the agreement between consumers and local producers characterised by a commitment to solidarity, participation and the achievement of sustainable development goals, represents a potential instrument for the planning of a new agricultural model. Therefore, the implementation of CSA models represents a crucial opportunity to rethink the agri-food system and address the current challenges it is facing.
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References11
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