Alternative food networks in a post-communist context: Farmers' markets and farm shops in Czechia

Alternative food networks in a post-communist context:: Farmers' markets and farm shops in Czechia Marie Syrovátková ABSTRACT The emergence of farmers' markets (FMs) and farm shops (FSs) in Czechia is a follow-up of the expansion of alternative food networks (AFNs) from Western Europe and North America where they have been developing for several decades. AFNs are an up-to-date topic as they respond to the growing concerns about the negative effects of the globalized conventional food system on social, economic and environmental aspects of food production, distribution and consumption. Each form of AFNs emphasizes a different aspect of the food system sustainability. FMs and FSs should primarily enable direct selling of quality local products made by small producers to support local economy, rural development, environmental protection and to improve quality of life. Based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the aim of the dissertation is to explore the emergence and development of AFNs in Central Europe. Using the example of Czechia, considering the communist past of the region, the work evaluates the contribution of AFNs to build a more sustainable system of food production and consumption and the weak points of the phenomenon in Czechia and, using a comparison of the AFN evolution..