**4. Development of short food supply chain in the Canadian context**

Conner et al. [45] conducted a research based on 70 farmers' markets, 3174 shoppers, and 487 vendors across the country. They found that in Canada, Farmers' markets are making significant contributions to the economy and communities ranging from \$1.55 million to \$3.09 million annually. They are the key players in promoting Canadian agricultural products, facilitating vendors' capabilities and developing labor improvement and accessibility. However, they found that there are still growth opportunities for them since a majority of consumers are using grocery stores rather than farmer's market.

#### **4.1 Alberta and British Colombia provinces**

Wittman et al. [15] surveyed some farmers' markets in Alberta and British Colombia. These markets are identified as strategic venues linking producers and consumers of local food. Different from conventional food networks in the organization of production, distribution, and consumption, the farmers' markets in North America are also examples of the social economy. With the support from private sector and the government, many Canadian farmers' markets are a combination of the local food system and social economy [15]. The constraints on the term "local" are not strictly defined, as situations in these two provinces are varied when compared with their counterparts in Europe. The qualified vendors in a Canadian farmers' market must meet the requirements of producing food in a local region. Some say their scale limits the further development of farmers' markets. However, scholars disagree with this common misconception. Scaling up farmers' markets could benefit them from economies of scale, but such action could potentially bring negative power disparities and environmental impacts resulting from conventionalization [15]. Like the situation in the United States, the amount of organic food

**357**

*Exploring Constituents of Short Food Supply Chains DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93401*

perfect example of this disparity.

authenticity in the farmers' markets [15].

**4.2 Province of Nova Scotia**

social-demographics.

*4.2.1 Case study 1: Select Nova Scotia*

distributed through direct sales outlets was under 10% in 2006 [15]. One major obstacle facing the development of farmers' markets in Canada was the disparity between policy and practice [15]. The restriction on the local and authenticity is a

Wittman et al. [15] analyzed the potential barriers and challenges undermining the potential growth of farmers' markets in Alberta and British Colombia provinces. The participants were interviewed with two overarching questions, "How can farmers' markets in western Canada scale up their role in supporting the advancement of local food systems within a social economy framework?" and "What are the barriers impeding farmers' markets from acting as transformational agents for a more sustainable food system?". The feedback from the participants reflected a diverse way of understanding the local food systems. For instance, the way how participants perceive the role of farmers' markets was largely determined by the dynamics of supply and demand relationship and the definition of boundaries of

Select Nova Scotia is a local food program initiated by the government to promote the food grown in this province [26]. To discover the actual effectiveness of this program, Knight conducted an online survey to assess the awareness of Select Nova Scotia and particularly the respondents' perception of the local benefits and barriers as well as purchase motivation and behavior [26]. As one out of at least four Canadian provinces supporting local food initiatives, Select Nova Scotia has been financially supported by the provincial government since 2007. Through sponsoring various campaigns and events, it not only aims to promote and educate consumers about local food, but also exploits development opportunities of the regional food program [26]. Knight evaluated the effectiveness of this program, particularly the awareness levels and impacts it has on consumer preferences and consumption [26]. Based on several economic assessments, this case study works as a benchmark for the future studies of Select Nova Scotia. Primary or shared grocery shoppers residing in Nova Scotia were chosen, and randomization was applied to eliminate possible biases [26]. The respondents were divided into six focus groups based on three types of profiles: food skills and interest, social, and

A third of the respondents were already aware of the Select Nova Scotia and knew about this initiative through primarily retail venues such as farmers' markets followed by advertisements on mass media. Through factor analyses, benefits were categorized into four groups: societal, attribute, social, and price [26]. Respondents with a different demographic background and food skills and interests would position every single one of the four types of benefits rather poles apart. Also, gender is another influencing factor. Availability, price, location, and appearance are the four aspects of barriers which would affect consumers' decisions to buy locally sourced food. Similarly, respondents with different characteristics would perceive the significance of each of these barriers differently. Based on the frequency of buying, different respondents can be divided into three buy-local groups, high, medium and low. Respondents initially aware of the program are more likely to be in the high group, while other social-demographic aspects also affect the categorization of these respondents. Using multinomial logistic regression method, it was found out that the respondents' awareness of this initiative contributed positively to their motivation to buy locally [26]. The respondents' awareness of this initiative was as

*Exploring Constituents of Short Food Supply Chains DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93401*

*Operations Management - Emerging Trend in the Digital Era*

accessibility for shopping.

which may baffle small farmers [13].

stores rather than farmer's market.

**4.1 Alberta and British Colombia provinces**

spend a lot in there, and have solid personal relationships with vendors [45]. Canadian researches on consumers also indicated that consumers are not satisfied with the limited season and hours for the farmers' markets because their demands cannot be fulfilled. But due to the limitation of technique and knowledge for most small-scale farm owners, they are not capable for the season extension practices. This limitation increases the potential of losing loyal customers. The third is the limited ability to promote the awareness to a larger base of population. Farmers' Markets Canada [48] also found that the top two reasons for people to not shop at farmers' markets are the inconvenience of location and the lack of awareness, and according to Colasanti et al. [49], the major reasons for less awareness of farmers' markets are largely due to the ineffective promotion strategy and the inconvenience of location. According to Wittman et al. [15], many customers would choose to support locally sourced food when there is a greater variety of products and easier

The primary challenges facing farmers' markets in Canada are exerted by the conventional food networks, competitive prices and scaling-up of production, and an unpredictable environment [15]. As a labor-intensive industry with its ethical standards, vendors at farmers' markets must pay a living wage to their employees, and at the same time, the investment in environmentally sustainable practices further raises the cost of production [15]. Specific constraints are exerting pressure to the further development of SFSC, primarily in the shortage of necessary knowledge and skills, lack of entrepreneurial culture in farmers, or administrative burden

**4. Development of short food supply chain in the Canadian context**

Conner et al. [45] conducted a research based on 70 farmers' markets, 3174 shoppers, and 487 vendors across the country. They found that in Canada, Farmers' markets are making significant contributions to the economy and communities ranging from \$1.55 million to \$3.09 million annually. They are the key players in promoting Canadian agricultural products, facilitating vendors' capabilities and developing labor improvement and accessibility. However, they found that there are still growth opportunities for them since a majority of consumers are using grocery

Wittman et al. [15] surveyed some farmers' markets in Alberta and British Colombia. These markets are identified as strategic venues linking producers and consumers of local food. Different from conventional food networks in the organization of production, distribution, and consumption, the farmers' markets in North America are also examples of the social economy. With the support from private sector and the government, many Canadian farmers' markets are a combination of the local food system and social economy [15]. The constraints on the term "local" are not strictly defined, as situations in these two provinces are varied when compared with their counterparts in Europe. The qualified vendors in a Canadian farmers' market must meet the requirements of producing food in a local region. Some say their scale limits the further development of farmers' markets. However, scholars disagree with this common misconception. Scaling up farmers' markets could benefit them from economies of scale, but such action could potentially bring negative power disparities and environmental impacts resulting from conventionalization [15]. Like the situation in the United States, the amount of organic food

**356**

distributed through direct sales outlets was under 10% in 2006 [15]. One major obstacle facing the development of farmers' markets in Canada was the disparity between policy and practice [15]. The restriction on the local and authenticity is a perfect example of this disparity.

Wittman et al. [15] analyzed the potential barriers and challenges undermining the potential growth of farmers' markets in Alberta and British Colombia provinces. The participants were interviewed with two overarching questions, "How can farmers' markets in western Canada scale up their role in supporting the advancement of local food systems within a social economy framework?" and "What are the barriers impeding farmers' markets from acting as transformational agents for a more sustainable food system?". The feedback from the participants reflected a diverse way of understanding the local food systems. For instance, the way how participants perceive the role of farmers' markets was largely determined by the dynamics of supply and demand relationship and the definition of boundaries of authenticity in the farmers' markets [15].

#### **4.2 Province of Nova Scotia**

#### *4.2.1 Case study 1: Select Nova Scotia*

Select Nova Scotia is a local food program initiated by the government to promote the food grown in this province [26]. To discover the actual effectiveness of this program, Knight conducted an online survey to assess the awareness of Select Nova Scotia and particularly the respondents' perception of the local benefits and barriers as well as purchase motivation and behavior [26]. As one out of at least four Canadian provinces supporting local food initiatives, Select Nova Scotia has been financially supported by the provincial government since 2007. Through sponsoring various campaigns and events, it not only aims to promote and educate consumers about local food, but also exploits development opportunities of the regional food program [26]. Knight evaluated the effectiveness of this program, particularly the awareness levels and impacts it has on consumer preferences and consumption [26]. Based on several economic assessments, this case study works as a benchmark for the future studies of Select Nova Scotia. Primary or shared grocery shoppers residing in Nova Scotia were chosen, and randomization was applied to eliminate possible biases [26]. The respondents were divided into six focus groups based on three types of profiles: food skills and interest, social, and social-demographics.

A third of the respondents were already aware of the Select Nova Scotia and knew about this initiative through primarily retail venues such as farmers' markets followed by advertisements on mass media. Through factor analyses, benefits were categorized into four groups: societal, attribute, social, and price [26]. Respondents with a different demographic background and food skills and interests would position every single one of the four types of benefits rather poles apart. Also, gender is another influencing factor. Availability, price, location, and appearance are the four aspects of barriers which would affect consumers' decisions to buy locally sourced food. Similarly, respondents with different characteristics would perceive the significance of each of these barriers differently. Based on the frequency of buying, different respondents can be divided into three buy-local groups, high, medium and low. Respondents initially aware of the program are more likely to be in the high group, while other social-demographic aspects also affect the categorization of these respondents. Using multinomial logistic regression method, it was found out that the respondents' awareness of this initiative contributed positively to their motivation to buy locally [26]. The respondents' awareness of this initiative was as

good as stated goals, regardless of its short history. Some critics doubted that the respondents that primarily covered the buy-local groups were already aware of the initiative. However, the cross tabulations suggest that only less than half respondents in the high group were already aware of it, while the other two groups had a lower percentage. It is recommended in this study that initiatives such as Select Nova Scotia should put greater emphasis on targeting medium and low buying groups through better managing the benefits and barriers.
