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The bright and the dark side of commercial urban agriculture labeling

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Abstract

Consumers have a growing desire to know where their food comes from and how it is produced, not only for health and safety reasons, but also to satisfy a nostalgia or a perception of “true”, “healthy”, “authentic” and “traceable”. The commercial urban agriculture sector attempts, at least in part, to respond to a growing demand from citizens for locally produced food and for local agriculture that can be signalled to consumers with the help of quality signs, such as reserved designations and added-value claims labels. To date, however, we can wonder about the issues of establishing an added-value claim “urban agriculture” to promote the distinction and development of food products from commercial urban agriculture. This study, using semi-directed interviews with 16 urban farmers and managers of urban agriculture businesses in Quebec, explores their perception of an added-value claim "urban agriculture" to certify their food products. The results of the thematic analysis carried out showing seven main issues, namely: notion of urbanity, sustainability of agricultural practices, valorization of hyper-locality, community, regulations, ownership concerns and relevance of the claim. These issues underline that the logic of commercial urban producers is not only mercantile but also community, social and environmental. In this sense, legislating a movement, under the establishment of a public food label to meet the market's needs and promote the development of this industry, can reveal the various forms of power, exclusion and inequality embedded in urban agriculture initiatives but also some niche opportunities for them. Thoughts are proposed to promote products from urban agriculture from the perspective of increasingly nurturing cities.

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Notes

  1. Aliments du Québec is a non-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote the agri-food industry through the Aliments du Québec and Aliments préparés au Québec brands for the benefit of the Quebec economy. Any product entirely made from ingredients sourced in Québec or composed of a minimum of 85% of main ingredients from Québec, and all the processing and packaging activities are done in Québec, can be considered as an Aliments du Québec. Today, more than 1,500 member companies and more than 25,000 products are verified to guide consumers in their choices (Aliment du Québec 2022).

Abbreviations

AU/LAB:

Laboratoire sur l’agriculture urbaine

BI-C:

Building-integrated-conditioned

BI-NC:

Building-integrated-non-conditioned

CARTV:

Conseil des Appellations Réservées et des Termes Valorisants

CSA:

Community-supported agriculture

DO:

Designations of origin

GB-C:

Ground-based-conditioned

GB-NC:

Ground-based-non-conditioned

MAPAQ:

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Quebec

PGI:

Protected geographical indications

UA:

Urban agriculture

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank their anonymous reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments. The authors also thank Éric Duchemin, Anne-Marie Bernier and Adeline Cohen of the Laboratoire sur l’Agriculture Urbaine (AU/LAB), Mikaël Leduc of the MAPAQ, as well as all the experts, urban farmers and managers of urban agriculture businesses in Quebec who generously and anonymously agreed to participate in this study.

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  1. Department of Marketing, School of Management Sciences (ESG), University of Québec at Montréal (UQAM), 320 Ste-Catherine East, Montréal, QC, H2X 3X2, Canada

    Marilyne Chicoine, Francine Rodier & Fabien Durif

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  1. Marilyne Chicoine
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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Interview guide

Section 1: Definition and opinion of urban agriculture

How would you describe your level of knowledge of food products from urban agriculture?

In your words, how do you define urban agriculture?

Do you have a good opinion of food products from urban agriculture? Why?

In your opinion, is it possible to distinguish a food product from urban agriculture from a conventional food product? If so, what are the elements that make it possible to distinguish them?

Are you in favor of labeling “urban agriculture” food products? Why?

Are you in favor of labeling “urban agriculture” food products being framed and controlled by the legislator (the law)? Why?

Section 2: Scope of the added-value claim

In your opinion, could an added-value claim “urban agriculture” be affixed to primary food products, processed products or both? Why?

On which food product(s) or which category(ies) of food product(s) should the added-value claim “urban agriculture” be affixed? Why? Are there important values behind the valuing term “urban agriculture”?

What do you think of the use of the term “urban agriculture” as an added-value claim? Would this be the ideal terminology to promote food products from urban agriculture or do you see another terminology?

Section 3: Description of products bearing this designation, advantages and challenges

How would you describe food products with the added-value claim “urban agriculture”? Why?

In your opinion, what are the advantages of an added-value claim “urban agriculture” for companies? For consumers?

In your opinion, who are the actors affected by food products from urban agriculture? Why?

What do you think are the costs to companies for an added-value claim “urban agriculture” on their food products?

In your opinion, can the costs to companies be offset by the added value to their food products? Do you believe this value would be the same for consumers living in urban areas vs outside of urban areas?

Do you believe that the introduction of an added-value claim “urban agriculture” can promote the distinction and development of Quebec food products? Why?

In your opinion, what would be the conditions for the success of the implementation of an added-value claim “urban agriculture” for Quebec food products? Why?

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Chicoine, M., Rodier, F. & Durif, F. The bright and the dark side of commercial urban agriculture labeling. Agric Hum Values 40, 1153–1170 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10409-z

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