TY - JOUR AU - Greco, Lauren AU - Kolodinsky, Jane AU - Sitaker, Marilyn AU - Chase, Lisa AU - Conner, David AU - Estrin, Hans AU - Smith, Diane AU - Van Soelen Kim, Julia PY - 2020/09/17 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Farm Fresh Food Boxes: Relationships in Value Chain Partnerships JF - Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development JA - J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev. VL - 9 IS - 4 SE - More Than Value$ in the Food System Peer-reviewed Papers DO - 10.5304/jafscd.2020.094.012 UR - https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/865 SP - 113–129 AB - <p>The Farm Fresh Food Box (F3B) project is a mar­ket innovation that aims to capitalize on successful characteristics of direct-to-consumer (DTC), values-based supply chains (VBSCs), and tradi­tional supply chains with the goals of expand­ing producer sales and improving rural food access. In the F3B model, farmers sell boxes of fresh pro­duce in rural retail outlets to bring food to custo­mers with limited access to locally grown foods. We present pilot findings on indicators of relation­ship quality, communication of embedded value, and food environment, and compare these with extant research to assess whether F3B behaves like a DTC, VBSC, a traditional supply chain, or some­thing else entirely. Unlike much of the previous value-chain research, this work places a unique emphasis on the importance of the <em>farmer-retailer</em> relationship. We merge existing knowledge of DTC strategies and barriers with those of VBSCs and traditional supply chains to understand better the process of expanding into new outlets and con­sumer populations. We find that while the F3B model reduces some resource constraints, it adds a layer of complexity that requires time and expertise to develop a quality relationship between producers and retailers. Additionally, it is apparent that the F3B model must be tailored to fit local contexts of farmers and retailers participating in F3B market innovations.</p> ER -