‘The missing actor’: alternative agri-food networks and the resistance of key regime actors - Transition Pathways towards Sustainability in Agriculture: Case Studies from Europe - page 143

Chapter 10

'The missing actor': alternative agri-food
networks and the resistance of key regime
actors

C. Darrot 1 , M. Diaz 1 , E. Tsakalou 2 , L. Zagata 3

1 AGROCAMPUS OUEST, Rennes ([e-mail]); 2 Agricultural
University of Athens; 3 Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague

Introduction

This chapter focuses on alliances and resistances within niches at the regional scale, and
on the specific processes which allow them to overcome barriers and enable an emerging
transition. The case studies presented in this chapter are alternative agri-food networks
(AAFNs) in three regions of Europe: short supply chains in Rennes Metropole (France);
farmers markets in Pilsen (Czech Republic); and integration of winemaking and
conventional tourism in Santorini (Greece) (Fig. 10.1).
AAFNs are a new form of food production, marketing and consumption initiative
based on an increased and more personalized link between producers and consumers.
These networks occur most often at a local level and share values of economic and social
solidarity, environmental conservation and opposition to the logic of the dominant food-
system (Balasz, 2009; Darrot and Durand, 2011; Verhaegen, 2012). Thanks to their ability
to answer the societal demand of 're-linking' around food (Watts et al. , 2005, 2008), and
because of their impressively fast development, AAFNs have been increasingly
understood as a social trend (Marsden et al. , 2000; Renting et al. , 2003; Maréchal, 2008).
First initiated by localized small networks described as societal and commercial niches,
AAFNs were progressively named and recognized during the mid-2000s as a coherent and
significant phenomenon (Spaargaren et al. , 2012; Kneafsey et al. , 2013) based on 're-
linking' behaviours.
AAFNs are mainly defined in opposition to conventional production. Alternative
forms of marketing are rapidly developing as a reaction to globalizing trends. They
critique the globalized market and its consequences, in particular aggressive competition
between international retail chains which has led to price conflicts between retailers and
suppliers. To maintain profits, suppliers tend to decrease prices, which are then reflected
in the quality of products. As a reaction, an attachment to locality is developing through
the promotion of local food products (Colman, 2008).
Given that AAFNs are based on the aim of increasing actor autonomy through local
resources and networking, from the perspective of the FarmPath project these initiatives