Assessing Values-based Sourcing Strategies in Regional Food Supply Networks : An Agent-based Approach
who wishes to join to become a member ( i . e ., maintain the status quo ). If the food hub manager wants to implement a sourcing policy , he / she should consider relaxing restrictions for small-sized and low-price producers . Either of these strategies ( Policy 1 or Policy 5 ) appears likely to support consumer satisfaction and continued participation .
On average , Policy 2 ( Supply & Demand ) yielded significantly fewer participating producers and a significantly greater average producer age than Policies 1 , 3 , and 5 ( No Management , Size , and Size & Price ). These three policies also resulted in a higher concentration of small-sized and low-price producers ( a result that is preferred by consumers ) than Policy 2 . Interestingly , there is no significant difference between Policy 1 and Policy 4 ( the supply−demand selection policy in which exceptions are made for low-price producers ) with respect to the mean number of low-price producers . This suggests that consumers ’ preferences for low prices can help to maintain a pool of competitive low-price producers without the need for food hub manager intervention .
These results indicate that in deciding which of these five supplier selection policies to implement , the food hub manager must make a tradeoff between protecting producers and meeting the needs of the consumers . By following “ protectionist ” Policy 2 , the food hub manager ’ s loyalty to currently participating producers protects them from healthy competition and reduces the ability for consumer preferences ( i . e ., for lower prices and smaller producers ) to be fully expressed . The food hub manager must determine whether it is in the food hub ’ s best interest to fully support a smaller group of producers , or partially support many producers and allow for some competition among them . Additionally , though the modifications to Policy 2 to encourage small-sized / low-price producers yield statistically significant reductions in average producer size ( with Policies 3 , 4 , and 5 ) and price ( with Policy 3 ) when compared to the status quo , the food hub manager should carefully assess whether the effort involved in implementing these policies would be truly worthwhile in the long run , and whether the chosen policy would be perceived by the producers and consumers in the community as being socially responsible and equitable .
Conclusion
For VBOs like regional food hubs , developing a suitable sourcing strategy
can be a challenging task . Food hubs are in a unique position of having to balance the social and economic concerns of both food producers and consumers . For a food hub manager , an appropriate policy for determining which producers should be allowed to participate in the system may not always be clear . Because regional food systems tend to be collaborative and community-based networks , maintaining traditional “ arm ’ s length ” or adversarial relationships with
43