A decline in the availability of opportunities for new entrants to agriculture is a recognised consequence of the agricultural restructuring process. Under the Common Agricultural Policy, various support schemes have attempted to address such concerns, with limited success. A number of these schemes focus on the provision of agricultural property rights for new entrants, but there appears to be limited justification for this. This paper argues the new entrant problem is as much about progression and exit as it is about entry, with such considerations generally not included in support frameworks. To develop this argument, the paper re-engages with the concept of 'real' regulation to examine rural property relationships on agricultural estates held by local authorities and county councils within England and Wales (i.e. the county farms estate). 'Real' regulation influences property-owner behaviour in three-ways: regulation of land occupancy; regulation of landowner behaviour; and, regulation of land use. These three regimes allow property owners to determine management strategies based on economic, social and environmental considerations. The flexibility afforded by 'real' regulation, and in particular, the regulation of land occupancy, and of landowner behaviour, allows property-owners the option to shift focus between these regimes, especially when faced with unfavourable market conditions. Analysis of different estate management strategies (consolidation, partial disinvestment, disinvestment), shows how this severely restricts the provision of property rights to new entrants and progressing tenants, as property-owners look to protect their interests. For these reasons, current new entrant support networks have limited success, irrespective of the political approach driving them.

Few studies exist to explain the concentration of organic farming in specific regions of England and Wales. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the development of organic farming in south west Wales and south east England. While the focus in the former is on the use of mainly national marketing channels and the movement of organic produce more than 60 minutes from the farm, in the latter greater use is made of local and direct marketing channels to distribute organic food within 30 minutes of the farm. Such differences are explained in terms of regional demand for organic food, organic heritage and development of an organisational infrastructure. Crucially, these factors coalesce in different ways and in different combinations to develop organic food networks in specific regions. The over-riding importance of demand appears to provide a key explanation for regional differentiation in organic farming.

This paper conducts a cultural political economy (CPE) analysis of consumers' semiotic and material construals of alternative food networks (AFN). It starts by outlining, in the context of debate over AFN, why CPE is a useful analytical tool. The collection of talk data from 40 respondents, and food consumption data from 20 respondents, is outlined and explained. Talk data reveal that interviewees construe conventional and alternative food networks differently based on values relating to food quality judgements, provenance and trust, and alternativeness. Consumption data demonstrate respondents' material engagement with conventional and, to a lesser extent, alternative food networks. The paper concludes that CPE is a productive framework for analysing AFN qua a subaltern economic imaginary, and that it can help to set them on 'firmer' ground, both ontologically and normatively.

Science has a powerful role in society. It can fuel innovation, shape policy and influence public opinion. However, science can also be highly controversial and subject to substantial disagreement and debate. Such debates are often evident in the media which regularly reports on areas of disagreement and debate. This article draws on the case-study of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), which has become a highly politicised issue in recent years, to explore media representation of public knowledge controversies. The disease has received substantial policy and media attention, particularly in relation to badgers and their role in its spread. This article focuses on the ways in which the various debates associated with bTB and its control are presented in the press, with a specific emphasis on badger vaccination. An in-depth discourse analysis compares regional, national and farming press, and identifies a number of complex dualisms against which the debate is framed. These dualisms help to explain the unclear policy direction and constant divisions between those who do and do not support badger vaccination, and the continued status of bTB control as a public knowledge controversy.

ILBERY B., KIRWAN J. and MAYE D. Explaining regional and local differences in organic farming in England and Wales: a comparison of South West Wales and South East England, Regional Studies, Few studies explain the concentration of organic farming in specific regions of England and Wales. This paper compares the development of organic farming in South West Wales and South East England. While the focus in the former is on the use of mainly national marketing channels and the movement of organic produce more than 60 min from the farm, in the latter greater use is made of local and direct marketing channels to distribute organic food within 30 min of the farm. The overriding importance of demand appears to provide a key explanation for regional differentiation in organic farming.

A pesar de las tendencias mundializadoras vigentes en los sistemas agroalimentarios, hay todo un movimiento hacia lo que se ha dado en llamar relocalización de la producción y el consumo alimentarios. Tal movimiento se relaciona con un conjunto de factores y en este artículo se examinan los intentos para estimular tal relocalización de la producción alimentaria a escala internacional (Unión Europea) y nacional (Reino Unido). Los estudios de varios casos de denominaciones de origen protegida", de "indicaciones geográficas protegidas), así como de agrupaciones productivas regionales de diversa índole, ponen en evidencia que los esfuerzos para vincular los productos a los lugares., han tenido hasta la fecha un impacto relativamente escaso, especialmente en aquellas regiones marginadas por los procesos de reestructuración agraria. En todo caso se necesita investigar más sobre tales procesos, y especialmente en relación con conceptos como arraigo social, calidad y certificación, así como desarrollo rural endógeno.

Alternative food systems, or networks (AFNs), have been of increasing academic interest since the main ‘productivist’ agricultural regime was challenged in the early 1990s. AFNs represent forms of food provision that operate through a variety of short food supply chains and are thus different from conventional (productivist) agri-food systems that have dominated the agri-food landscape of most developed market economies. The chapter begins by reviewing changing theoretical approaches to the study of AFNs in Europe and critiques the simplistic conventional-alternative binary often referred to in the literature, emphasising instead the complex, dynamic and hybridised nature of many agri-food systems. Drawing on a range of case study evidence from the UK, the chapter then traces the evolution of research on AFNs, from an initial interest in ‘locality’ foods, with its focus on the rural development dynamic and regional benefits of encouraging regional speciality food and drink products, to more recent interest in ‘local’ foods, where the building of capacity in local communities and the health and educational benefits of local food and drink products are emphasised. This evolution reflects a change in approach to studying AFNs, away from an analysis of the weaker dimensions of food networks and towards the stronger dimensions of food networks. Nevertheless, the conventional-alternative divide in agri-food systems remains a battlefield that is likely to intensify with increasing concerns over food security issues and the need to feed an ever-expanding global population. The chapter closes with some suggested future research directions for the study of European AFNs.

This paper addresses the potential difficulties associated with researching controversial and/or sensitive issues. Drawing on the findings from in-depth interviews with farmers, the paper provides a reflexive commentary on the use of visual vignettes to explore farmers' attitudes towards the control of bovine tuberculosis in England – currently a highly controversial subject. Five short video clips were shown to interviewees to prompt discussions about different aspects of disease control, including methods to vaccinate and cull badgers. Visual vignettes have not been used widely outside the fields of health and social care. The method is used here to encourage interviewees to discuss sensitive issues related to badger control, including their trust in various stakeholders involved in the management of bovine tuberculosis, their own knowledge and understanding about disease control, and their attitudes towards control methods. The results suggest that visual vignettes have a number of advantages that could benefit research in human geography and the wider social sciences.

This paper examines the relationship between neoliberal styles of animal disease governance and farmers' understandings of disease and nature. In the UK, new styles of animal disease governance has promised to shift the costs and responsibilities of disease management to farmers, creating opportunities for farmers to take responsibility for disease control themselves and opening up new markets for disease control interventions. Focussing on the management of bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) and drawing on interviews with 65 cattle farmers, the paper examines how farmer responses to these new styles of animal disease governance are shaped by their own knowledges and understandings of nature and disease. In particular, the paper examines how two key narratives of nature the idea of 'natural balance' and 'clean and dirty badgers' lead farmers to think about the control of bTB in wildlife (such as the choice between badger culling and/or vaccination) in very specific ways. However, whilst discourses of cost and responsibility appear to open up choice opportunities for farmers, that choice is constrained when viewed from the perspective of farmer subjectivities and narratives of nature. Discourses of neoliberalism as control rather than choice are therefore revealed, drawing attention to the complexities and plural strategies of neoliberal governance. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper addresses the potential difficulties associated with researching controversial and/or sensitive issues. Drawing on the findings from in‐depth interviews with farmers, the paper provides a reflexive commentary on the use of visual vignettes to explore farmers' attitudes towards the control of bovine tuberculosis in England – currently a highly controversial subject. Five short video clips were shown to interviewees to prompt discussions about different aspects of disease control, including methods to vaccinate and cull badgers. Visual vignettes have not been used widely outside the fields of health and social care. The method is used here to encourage interviewees to discuss sensitive issues related to badger control, including their trust in various stakeholders involved in the management of bovine tuberculosis, their own knowledge and understanding about disease control, and their attitudes towards control methods. The results suggest that visual vignettes have a number of advantages that could benefit research in human geography and the wider social sciences.

This article adds to on-going debates about food provisioning in England and the relative positioning of supermarkets vis-à-vis other sources of fresh food. Arguing that traditional food markets have been neglected in the agri-food literature, the paper investigates the suggestion that they are at ‘a critical juncture’, with many in decline and others being (re-)gentrified for a wealthier type of customer. Theoretically, the article argues that the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ spaces and places of traditional food markets are tightly interwoven. It draws on database analysis and detailed findings from interviews with market managers, traders and shoppers conducted on markets in contrasting regions of England in the cities of Newcastle and Cambridge. The findings provide new insights by examining the connective spaces and places that link market actors and consumers as fresh food moves across the geographical regions and through the marketplace. Taking a relational view, the paper challenges the suggestion that traditional food markets are at ‘a critical juncture’, arguing that there are unique points of difference on how the traditional food market adapts to rapid retail change, according to its geography, history and the spatial and temporal tensions between traditional and modernised fresh food provisioning systems, and suggests the need for further in-depth research.

This article adds to on‐going debates about food provisioning in England and the relative positioning of supermarkets vis‐à‐vis other sources of fresh food. Arguing that traditional food markets have been neglected in the agri‐food literature, the paper investigates the suggestion that they are at ‘a critical juncture’, with many in decline and others being (re‐)gentrified for a wealthier type of customer. Theoretically, the article argues that the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ spaces and places of traditional food markets are tightly interwoven. It draws on database analysis and detailed findings from interviews with market managers, traders and shoppers conducted on markets in contrasting regions of England in the cities of Newcastle and Cambridge. The findings provide new insights by examining the connective spaces and places that link market actors and consumers as fresh food moves across the geographical regions and through the marketplace. Taking a relational view, the paper challenges the suggestion that traditional food markets are at ‘a critical juncture’, arguing that there are unique points of difference on how the traditional food market adapts to rapid retail change, according to its geography, history and the spatial and temporal tensions between traditional and modernised fresh food provisioning systems, and suggests the need for further in‐depth research.

This paper examines farmers' trust in badger vaccination as a method of preventing the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) between wildlife (specifically, badgers) and cattle in England. The spread of bTB has economic and social implications for farmers, but previous research has found that lack of trust in government is a key factor in farmers' failure to adopt new preventative biosecurity practices. In these and other studies, however, the conceptual dimensions of trust are frequently loosely defined, meaning that it is unclear how trust, along with other factors, is related to the acceptance of new biosecurity practices such as vaccination. Drawing on findings from a telephone survey of 339 farmers and in-depth interviews with a subsample of 65, the paper explores attitudes towards, and levels of acceptance of, badger vaccination amongst farmers across five study areas with varying levels of bTB disease. Results reveal low levels both of trust in government to manage bTB and confidence in badger vaccination. Principal components analysis identifies three specific dimensions of trust which, along with farmers' perceived self-efficacy, the perceived threat of disease, and faith in others to manage disease, are all significantly related to the acceptability of badger vaccination.

This is the final report of the evaluation of Local Food. It examines the extent to which the programme has addressed its over-arching aim and five main themes (see below). The report concludes by reflecting on how well the programme has achieved what it set out to do, and makes some recommendations for the future of local food projects. It builds on the report produced to celebrate the mid-point of the programme in October 2012, entitled ‘More than just the veg: growing community capacity through Local Food projects,' and should be read in conjunction with it.

Little comparative research has investigated the ‘lifeworlds’ of organic and conventional farmers. Using phenomenology, this article explores and describes the ‘lifeworlds’ of farmers in central-southern England with the aim of identifying their understandings and experiences in relation to their choice of farming system. On-farm ‘lifeworld’ interviews and observations (examined in terms of movement, rest and encounter) showed that, in contrast to conventional farmers, organic farmers often have less tidy farms, perceive the farm and ‘natural’ environment as one and the same, place more importance on their dwelling and experience greater feelings of isolation. Most of the organic respondents' understandings of farming were more closely linked to the ‘natural’ environment, biodiversity and agricultural sustainability than the conventional farmers, whose agricultural understandings were often concerned with creating pheasant cover and providing ‘good environments’ for foxes.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a complex animal disease affecting farmed cattle and badgers in England and Wales. In England, vaccination of either cattle and/or wildlife is seen as an important long-term policy to help reduce the impact of bTB. This paper provides an assessment of cattle farmer attitudes towards badger vaccination, captured via a baseline telephone survey of farmers in five areas where rates of bTB in cattle are high, including one area in Gloucestershire where, since 2010, badgers have been vaccinated as part of the Government's Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (BVDP). The uptake of badger vaccination is likely to be dependent on farmers' trust and confidence in the vaccine and those who promote it. The paper argues that measuring trust in institutions is a good way to assess farmer confidence in badger vaccination. Using a series of statements from previous research that has examined institutional trust, the paper shows how farmers surveyed were cautious about the role of badger vaccination to control bTB in cattle. Levels of vaccine acceptability or trust in the Government were not high. Further work is needed to unpack the relationship between trust and confidence in badger vaccination. Keywords: Bovine TB; badger vaccination; trust; confidence; England

Abstract Plant health is a key condition for a sustainable land use and rural economy. Drawing on a Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU)-funded project on the growing risk of plant diseases in the UK, current and future challenges to plant health are discussed. It is well recognized that farmers have an important role in shaping plant health policies at a time of major structural changes in agricultural industries. However, the role of consumers has also much potential to improve sustainability of plant disease management options. The phytosanitary legislation is catching up with the many recent developments in plant health, but needs to be integrated with policies aimed at achieving animal and human health. Interdisciplinary approaches in research on plant health, as well as an increasing involvement of stakeholders in the management of plant epidemics, are to be welcomed. Plant diseases also influence (and are influenced by) land use and environmental regulations in general. Climate change is likely to increase the frequency and magnitude of new plant disease outbreaks, particularly when combined with globalization of trade, intensification of land use and structural evolution of the agricultural sector. To tackle the many challenges to plant health, it is mandatory to ensure long-term funding for interdisciplinary plant health research and management.

While plant diseases have been the subject of scientific research, little is known about the perceptions of key actors towards plant disease risk within specific food sectors. Drawing on concepts of risk and uncertainty, and using in-depth interviews, this paper examines the ways in which endemic plant disease risks in the UK wheat sector are perceived and managed by key 'upstream' and 'downstream' businesses, as well as by farmers and agronomists. A majority of interviewees feel that plant disease is a controllable risk and one that rests mainly at the point of production (i.e. with farmers) within the wheat sector. This assumed 'control' is based mainly around the availability of plant protection products (e.g. fungicides) which reduce the sense of risk attributable to outbreaks of plant disease. As a consequence, there can be a tendency to grow higher-yielding wheat varieties that are less disease-resistant. The potential banning of certain fungicides under EU legislation and climate change are perceived future threats that could increase uncertainty and change the balance between 'control' and 'resistance', the latter through the use of more disease-resistant wheat varieties. Further research is needed on the perceived impacts of plant diseases and on how different wheat sector actors will contribute to the future control of plant diseases and the development of more integrated systems of plant disease management. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper seeks to orientate research on local food networks more firmly towards ideas of grassroots and social niche innovations. Drawing on recent conceptual ideas from strategic niche management, this paper provides an exploratory analysis of attempts to spread grassroots social innovations through the Big Lottery Local Food programme run by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts in England. This pound 59.8 million programme aims to distribute grants to a variety of food-related projects and to make locally grown food more accessible and affordable to local communities. Insights into 29 funded projects, of varying length and scale of operation, are provided through over 150 telephone and personal interviews. While the Local Food programme is undoubtedly about bringing small, often neglected pieces of land into production and increasing access to affordable food, results show that the programme is also very much seen as a vehicle for building community capacity through facilitating community cohesion, healthy eating, educational enhancement and integrating disadvantaged groups into mainstream society and economy. The paper concludes with some reflections on the extent to which the concept of grassroots social innovations, as a form of niche innovation, can help understand the ability of local food networks to develop the capacity of communities to respond to locally identified problems and to effect more widespread, sustainable change. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.