Quality, Nature, and Embeddedness: Some Theoretical Considerations in the Context of the Food Sector*

TLDR

Quality in the food sector is increasingly framed as tied to nature and the local embeddedness of supply chains. The paper analyzes the shift toward quality in both food production and consumption. The authors outline this shift, evaluate political economy, actor‑network, and conventions theories, and focus on actor‑network and conventions, noting that actor‑network centers nature but lacks tools for quality, while conventions links supply‑chain aspects into a negotiated quality system, illustrated with Welsh chains. Conventions theory links supply‑chain aspects and frames quality as a negotiated system of specific qualities.

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper we analyze a turn to “quality” in both food production and consumption. We argue that quality in the food sector, as it is being asserted at the present time, is closely linked to nature and the local embeddedness of supply chains. We thus outline the broad contours of this shift and discuss the most appropriate theoretical approaches. We consider political economy, actor‐network theory, and conventions theory and argue that, whereas political economy has proved useful in the analysis of globalization, it may prove less so in the examination of quality. We concentrate, therefore, upon actor‐network theory and conventions theory and show that the former allows nature to be brought to the center of analytical attention but provides few tools for the analysis of quality, especially in the context of the food sector. Conventions theory, on the other hand, links together a range of aspects found in food supply chains and allows us to consider the establishment of quality as a system of negotiation between specific qualities. We illustrate possible uses of the approach through a brief consideration of food supply chains in Wales.