Expectations, Experiences, Trust in the Case of Short Circuit Food Supply Networks

Farmers Markets are receiving an increasing attention by both food chains actors and social scientists. Economicand sociological studies are contributing to the comprehension of these forms of exchange. Both consumers andproducers are fostering their expectations about the renewal of a mode of exchange which sustained local production‐consumptions linkages. The main economic function of these organizational structures seems to be thereduction of the price paid by the consumers and the enhancements of allocation of farm products. The basicinterpretation of these forms of exchange focuses on market structure, nonetheless the exchange relationshipsseems to emphasize several dimensions, including economic and cultural aspects. The objective of the paper isof investigating the role of networks among producers and consumers in structuring and making viable theFarmer Markets as structures of short food supply chains. The basic idea is that the strength of Farmer Marketsis the ability of satisfying the consumers expectations about a few characteristics of the products, entailing givencultural and economic aspects. The study argues that under this view the Farmer Markets may be thought of asa emerging form of production‐consumption interaction. According to existing evidences it is suggested that thenetwork is also the emerging forms of horizontal relationships among the producers participants to the markets.The paper aims at suggesting that basic types of trust act as key factor in structuring the networks and in promotingthe stability of the market.