Abstract
The contemporary US food systemis characterized by both an unprecedentedconcentration of corporate control as well as afragmentation of sourcing and marketingprocesses, introducing both new constraints andnew opportunities for more localized foodsystems. The purpose of our study is to explorethese issues by investigating three keyquestions. First, what are the key trends inthe US grocery industry? Second, how dodifferent kinds of food outlets choose,procure, and promote food products? Finally,what are the implications of recent trends inthe food retailing process for strengtheninglocal flows of the production, distribution,and consumption of food? Background informationon the grocery industry and the results ofseven open-ended interviews conducted withowners and managers of grocery stores in oneupstate New York county indicate that theretailing process differs in complex ways fromstore to store and in most aspects cannot beinferred from store type. The paper concludeswith a discussion of the implications of ourfindings for local food system efforts,specifically in terms of new collaborationsamong producers, distributors, retailers, andshoppers, who play an indispensable role indeveloping viable alternatives to increasingcorporate control.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, P. (ed.) (1993). Food for the Future: The Conditions and Contradictions of Sustainability. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Ashman, L., J. de la Vega, M. Dohan, A. Fisher, R. Hippler, and B. Romain (1993). Seeds of Change: Strategies for Food Security for the Inner City. UCLA Urban Planning Department.
Bowlby, R. (1997). “Supermarket futures.” In P. Falk and C. Campbell (eds.), The Shopping Experience (pp. 92–110). London: Sage.
Buck, D., C. Getz, and J. Guthman (1997). “From farm to table: The organic vegetable commodity chain of northern California.” Sociologia Ruralis 37: 3–20.
Burch, D. and J. Goss (1999). “Global sourcing and retail chains: Shifting relationships of production in Australian agri-foods.” Rural Sociology 64: 334–350.
DeLind, L. (1993). “Market niches, 'cul de sacs', and social context: Alternative systems of food production.” Culture and Agriculture 47: 7–12.
Dixon, J. (1999). “Reflexive accumulation and global restructuring: Retailers and cultural processes in the Australian poultry industry.” Rural Sociology 64: 320–333.
Economic Research Service (1997). Food Consumption, Prices and Expenditures. Stock #89015B, United States Department of Agriculture.
Food Marketing Institute (1992). Alternative Store Formats: Competing in the Nineties. Report #9-511, Washington DC.
Food Marketing Institute (1998). Trends in the United States: Consumer Attitudes and the Supermarket.
Gottlieb, R. and A. Fisher (1996). “Community food security and environmental justice: Searching for a common discourse.” Agriculture and Human Values13: 23–32.
Grannovetter, M. (1985). “Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness.” American Journal of Sociology 91: 481–510.
Hassenein, N. (1999). Changing the way America farms: Knowledge and community in the sustainable agriculture movement. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Heffernan, W. D. (1999). Consolidation in the Food and Agriculture System. Report to the National Farmers Union. Washington, DC, February.
Hendrickson, M., W. D. Heffernan, P. H. Howard, and J. B. Heffernan (2001). Consolidation in Food Retailing and Dairy: Implications for Farmers and Consumers in a Global Food System. Report to the National Farmers Union. Washington, DC, January 8.
Hennessy, T. (2000). “Fresh ideas,” Progressive Grocer, March 2000: 85-91.
Hinrichs, C. C. (2000). “The embeddedness of local food systems: Notes on two types of direct agricultural markets.” Journal of Rural Studies16: 295–303.
Janoff, B. (1999). “Supermarkets go au naturel,” Progressive Grocer, March 1999: 75-80.
Kahn, B. E. and L. McAlister (1997). Grocery Revolution: The New Focus on the Consumer. New York: Addison-Wesley.
Kloppenburg J. Jr., J. Hendrickson, and G. W. Stevenson (1996). “Coming into the Foodshed.” Agriculture and Human Values 13: 33–42.
Kneen, B. (1993). From Land to Mouth: Understanding the Food System. Toronto: NC Press.
Lyson, T. A. and G. W. Gillespie Jr. (1995). “Producing more milk on fewer farms: Neoclassical and neostructural explanations for changes in the dairy industry.” Rural Sociology 60: 493–504.
Lyson, T. A. and J. Green (1999). “The agricultural marketscape: A framework for sustaining agriculture and communities in the northeast.” Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 15: 133–150.
Marsden, T., A. Flynn, and M. Harrison (2000). Consuming Interests: The Social Provision of Foods. London: UCL Press.
McMichael, P. (2000). “The power of food.” Agriculture and Human Values 17: 21–33.
Progressive Grocer (2000). The Progressive Grocer Annual Report.
Torres, R. (1999). An Analysis of the Economic, Social, and Agricultural Correlates of “New Agriculture” in New York State at the Town Level. Unpublished Masters' Thesis, Cornell University.
Wellman, D. (2000a). “Natural high.” Supermarket Business 55(3): 1, 12.
Wellman, D. (2000b). “Mother nature: One hot mama.” Supermarket Business 55(3): 39, 42-48.
Wilkins J. L., E. Bowdish, and J. Sobal (2000). “University student perceptions of seasonal and local foods.” Journal of Nutrition Education 32: 261–268.
Winson, A. (1993). The Intimate Commodity: Food and the Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex in Canada. Toronto: Garamond Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guptill, A., Wilkins, J.L. Buying into the food system: Trends in food retailing in the US and implications for local foods. Agriculture and Human Values 19, 39–51 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015024827047
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015024827047