Trust and the Clean Food Imaginaries: An Analysis of a Short Food Supply Chain from Romania
Open accessAbstract
As concerns about food safety and environmental issues gain more attention in the public eye, organic labels are growing in popularity, being presented as the solution for a more sustainable and conscious food system. Yet, organic certificates did not manage to actively change the food system but merely created a niche to be exploited, thus many of the environmental-friendly practices being co-opted by corporations without addressing the larger issues of concern. This paper looks at how small producers, who are otherwise excluded from accessing the premium prices of organic food markets, can still seize community economic rent through the close relationship formed as part of a Community supported agriculture. Using a qualitative research methodology, based on semi-structured interviews and secondary data analysis, and drawing from Alternative food Networks literature, I am investigating one such alternative network from Romania called Peasant Box (Cutia Taranului) which re-spatialize the distribution chain, by creating a direct selling network between food producers and consumers. In my research I focused on the way in which both consumers and producers perceive the value of food and on the distinct discursive constructions regarding food, as either valued based on the place of origin (authenticity) or on the way it was produced (naturalness). Peasant Box operates outside formalised certification, the food is considered good by the virtue of trust, which is formed through the…
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Organic production remains less embedded in mass retail and public procurement systems in post-socialist markets, limiting its scaling potential compared to Western Europe.
“Organic production remains less embedded in mass retail and public procurement systems [51,52,54,59], limiting its scaling potential compared to Western Europe.”
From Who Reaches the Consumer? A Network Analysis of Market Reach Factors of Slovakia's Short Food Supply Chains (2026) · cites this paper as [52]
Certification has a significant effect on market penetration, facilitating access to specialized markets and, in some contexts, international markets.
“The literature documents a significant effect of certification on market penetration, driven by increased consumer trust and higher perceived product value, and shows that it facilitates access to specialized markets [23,44,52] and, in some contexts, to international markets [53].”
From Who Reaches the Consumer? A Network Analysis of Market Reach Factors of Slovakia's Short Food Supply Chains (2026) · cites this paper as [52]
The credibility of organic production is associated with higher consumer willingness to pay and the ability to capture price premiums.
“Although certification represents only one of several quality signals [11], the credibility of organic production is associated with higher consumer willingness to pay and the ability to capture price premiums [23,51,52].”
From Who Reaches the Consumer? A Network Analysis of Market Reach Factors of Slovakia's Short Food Supply Chains (2026) · cites this paper as [52]
Even in a post-socialist context, organic production can function as an effective product differentiation strategy that increases producer attractiveness across different types of POSs.
“Even in a post-socialist context, organic production can function as an effective product differentiation strategy that increases producer attractiveness across different types of POSs, in line with literature emphasizing higher consumer trust and willingness to pay [23,51,52].”
From Who Reaches the Consumer? A Network Analysis of Market Reach Factors of Slovakia's Short Food Supply Chains (2026) · cites this paper as [52]
Cites
Still being checked.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Short Food Supply Chains in Europe: Scientific Research Directions
Evola, R. S., Peira, G., Varese, E., Bonadonna, A., & Vesce, E. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su14063602 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Determinants of consumer behavior in short food supply chains: a systematic literature review
Herzig, J., & Zander, K. (2025) · Agricultural and Food Economics · doi:10.1186/s40100-025-00370-w · Cited by 18 · see citing works
What are the ‘Values’ in alternative food systems? A systematic review
Faltmann, N. K., & Stotten, R. (2025) · Agriculture and Human Values · doi:10.1007/s10460-025-10756-7 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Re-territorialising skills? Insights from ethnography on solidarity-economy food activism
Grasseni, C. (2024) · Sustainability Science · doi:10.1007/s11625-024-01527-0 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“We grow earth”: performing eco-agrarian citizenship at the semi-periphery of Europe
Oprea, A., Velicu, I., Delibas, H. I., & Pedro, S. F. S. (2023) · Environmental Politics · doi:10.1080/09644016.2023.2293432 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationFood Hubs in Romania. Assessment of a Pilot Project
Havadi-Nagy, K. X. (2022) · Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft · doi:10.1553/moegg163s327 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
ROA CLUJ: REKO TYPE SUSTAINABLE MARKETING NETWORK IN ROMANIA
Havadi-Nagy, K. X. (2021) · Territorial Identity and Development · doi:10.23740/tid220211 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Varecha, L., Jarábková, J., & Hrivnák, M. (2026) · Agriculture · doi:10.3390/agriculture16060649
Stępień, S., & Guth, M. (2025) · Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists · doi:10.5604/01.3001.0055.2683
Helyi élelmiszerek és rövid ellátási láncok Székelyföldön
Molnár, J. (2026) · doi:10.54598/006960
Stępień, S., Gawrysiak, M., Guth, M., Polcyn, J., & Tošović-Stevanović, A. (2026) · Bio-based and Applied Economics · doi:10.36253/bae-18722
- Authors
- Delibas, H. I.
- Affiliations
- Babeș-Bolyai University (RO)
- Corresponding author
- Delibas, Hestia Ioana
- Venue
- Universität Kassel
- Publisher
- Universität Kassel
- Published
- 2021-05-25
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 2
- OpenAlex
- W3185958171
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Kobra (Universitätsbibliothek Kassel) (cc-by)
- Future of food: journal on food, agriculture and society
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Organic Food and Agriculture
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Consumer behavior in food and health
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Global trade, sustainability, and social impact
- Keywords
- trust, community-supported agriculture, organic food, alternative food networks, short food supply chains, food authenticity, naturalness, producer-consumer relations, organic certification, co-optation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
