Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/80436
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Type: Journal article
Title: South Australian farmers' markets: tools for enhancing the multifunctionality of Australian agriculture
Author: Fielke, S.
Bardsley, D.
Citation: GeoJournal: an international journal on human geography and environmental sciences, 2013; 78(5):759-776
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers Group
Issue Date: 2013
ISSN: 0343-2521
1572-9893
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Simon J. Fielke, Douglas K. Bardsley
Abstract: This paper critically examines the role of farmers' markets in Australian agriculture. A case study is undertaken in South Australia, where all stallholders at three farmers' markets situated in Adelaide, Willunga and Berri were surveyed regarding their production and marketing techniques. Overall responses supported literature highlighting the importance of farmers' markets to the producers who chose to exploit this marketing niche. A strong co-reliance on 'wholesale sales' was also recognised, suggesting an important integration of productivist and post-productivist approaches to agricultural development. Of most promise for long-term agricultural sustainability was evidence that certain groups of farmers were found to be realising the potential of these and other alternative markets, in terms of their risk reducing capacity, and diversifying to include various conservation values into their agricultural enterprises. These groups were less concerned about market fluctuations and more concerned with issues of social equity, environmental health and having fun, which meant they unwittingly epitomised the goals of political ecology, by challenging the dominant agricultural methods of production and marketing. It seems these groups also recognised that the direct nature of their transactions would sow beneficial social, environmental and economic 'seeds' for change. Finally, it is argued that policies to improve access to farmers' markets and reduce the cost of participation would assist small scale Australian agricultural producers to evolve smoothly into a multifunctional era. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Keywords: Agricultural policy
Farmers’ markets
Multifunctional land use
Political ecology
South Australia
Rights: © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
DOI: 10.1007/s10708-012-9464-8
Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10708-012-9464-8
Appears in Collections:Aurora harvest 4
Geography, Environment and Population publications

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