standards are an omnipresent yet generally taken-for-granted part of our everyday life (higgins and larner, 2010a; timmermans and epstein, 2010; Busch, 2011). until recently, standards within the agri-food sector were typically dismissed (if thought of at all) by social scientists as rather benign, technical tools, primarily of interest to specialists concerned with facilitating markets and tra...

Sustainable agricultural practices in conjunction with ecological restoration methods can reduce the detrimental effects of agriculture. The Society for Ecological Restoration International has produced generic guidelines for conceiving, organizing, conducting and assessing ecological restoration projects. Additionally, there are now good conceptual frameworks, guidelines and practical methods ...

Fresh Fruits and Vegetable (FFV) are one of the most important component of a retail chain (supermarket) and act as a strategic product in attracting the customers. The demand for fresh fruits and vegetables is growing year-by-year, with greater potential for the future. Agri-food produces from the farmer's field reach the end consumer through a long chain of intermediaries such as farmers/grow...

This paper presents an initial analysis of the degree to which the European Union agri-environmental schemes have been implemented in Spain. It is focused on the way the various Regional and National Government bodies involved have interpreted Regulation EC 2078/92, rather than on the degrees of farmer participation in them. The environmental objectives of the schemes offered, in addition to th...

Recently, a large number of innovative ICT systems and network tools facilitate the use of e-business frameworks. Modern organizations through innovative ICT models can confront competition, uncertainty and complexity. Supply chain faces organizations as a chain of interrelated entities, and provides a complete aspect of their prospects. A survey has been contacted to test the impact of the fac...

The supply chain of agricultural products has received a great deal of attention lately due to issues related to public health. Something that has become apparent is that in the near future the design and operation of agricultural supply chains will be subject to more stringent regulations and closer monitoring, in particular those for products destined for human consumption (agri-foods). This ...

Through the European controversy over agricultural biotechnology, genetically modified (GM) crops have been evaluated for an increasingly wide range of potential effects. As the experimental phase has been extended into commercial practices, the terms for product approval have become more negotiable and contentious. To analyse the regulatory conflicts, this paper links three theoretical perspec...

This paper presents an overview of the development of macroeconomic conditions in Ukrainian agriculture from 1990 to the present, and highlights the main features of land privatization & farm reorganization that have strong impact on the environment. In this regard, the review describes the major agri-environmental issues drawn from national Ukrainian datasets accompanied by a discussion of the...

The recent rises in food prices represent the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and a ‘canary in the mine’ moment for world agriculture. They are underlain by a continuing race to the bottom and by speculative processes whereby systems of resource production and exploitation are continuing to rely upon ‘infinite supply’ assumptions and narrow technological solutions to world hunger. It is argued here that t...