ACTING COLLECTIVELY TO DEVELOP MIDSCALE FOOD VALUE CHAINS IN THE U. S.

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5International audienceMotivated by Lyson s concept of civic agriculture , this paper examines case studies of four innovative U. S. mid-scale food value chains to provide models of how mid-sized farms and ranches and associated processing, distribution, and retail businesses can prosper by acting collectively to construct -food system. Specifically we consider the importance of acting collectively functions at three distinct levels horizontally among producers, vertically within food value chains and horizontally across food value chains. These mid-scale food value chains represent strategic alliances among mid-sized farms and other agri-food enterprises that operate at regional levels, handle significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products, and distribute profit margins equitably among the strategic partners. Historically mediumbackbone of the U. S. agricultural sector. In recent decades, these farms have been severely challenged as they are often too small individually to compete successfully in international agricultural commodity markets and too large and/or poorly positioned to directly market food to local consumers. Yet they remain important for many reasons including their environmental stewardship, contributions to community vitality, and the role they play in maintaining a diverse, resilient, and more sustainable structure of agriculture. From a market perspective, the key advantage of these food value chains is their ability to provide high quality, differentiated products not available through the mainstream commodity market