Comparing the Structure, Size, and Performance of Local and Mainstream Food Supply Chains

First paragraphs:Following on the attention generated by a popular local food movement, the necessity—or at least the potential—of growth in local and regional food systems has been widely identified as an important area of focus for food systems analysis and policy.1The claims about the strengths and benefits of more localized diets and production systems—particularly those made in the promotion of the “locavore” movement—have increasingly come under attack in the mainstream and academic press (Budiansky, 2010; Desrochers Harvie Kirschenmann, Stevenson, Buttel, Lyson, as well as the special issue of the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society (Issue 3, 2010) focusing on “food system (re)-regionalization.”