Emilia Schmitt

University of Cordoba (Spain) | UCO

The agricultural landscape of Switzerland is dominated by industrialized, but struggling, milk production. Producers are facing ever-falling prices, environmental changes and increasing requirements for state supports. Facing these challenges, some farmers have developed their own products for niche markets, adopted rare or ancient breeds or demons...

Consumers’ interest in local food has recently increased, even if the distinction between local and global food still remains unclear. Aside from the concept of food-miles, no metrics exist to quantify the level of ‘localness’ of a product. In this study, five criteria for making this distinction are derived from the literature: geographical distan...

In the debate surrounding the sustainable future of food, claims like “buy local” are widespread in publications and the media, supported by the discourse that buying “local food” provides ecological, health and socio-economic benefits. Recognising the lack of scientific evidence for this claim, this paper aims to compare the results of sustainabil...

The protection of geographical indications (European regulation 1151/2012) is arguably the most significant initiative, certainly within Europe, that promotes foods with territorial associations and reorganises agri-food chain governance through a strategy of reterritorialisation. Research on Protected Designation of Origins (PDOs) and Protected Ge...

Local food has recently gained popularity under the assumption that it is more sustainable than food from distant locations. However, evidence is still lacking to fully support this assumption. The goal of this study is to compare local and global food chains in five dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, social, ethical and health)...

This paper summarizes the main findings of the GLAMUR project which starts with an apparently simple question: is “local” more sustainable than “global”? Sustainability assessment is framed within a post-normal science perspective, advocating the integration of public deliberation and scientific research. The assessment spans 39 local, intermediate...

Local food generally has a positive image, supported among consumers by the perception of reduced negative impacts on the environment and other dimensions. However, a critical analysis of local food chains’ performance in comparison with more global ones is still needed to objectively assess the real benefits and drawbacks of local and global food...

In the context of growing consumers' awareness about the impact of food products on the environment, their health or on social aspects, a careful analysis needs to be conducted to compare the sustainability performance of local VS global food value chains. The EU research project GLAMUR (Global and local food assessment: a multidimensional performa...