The conventionalization of organic agriculture has been described as a process in which organic agriculture increasingly adopts the features of conventional modes of production based on industrial farming methods. The increasing supply of organic products to the large retailers is considered the main driver of conventionalization. This process has negative implications for the agrobiodiversity of organic farming systems. The present study aims to investigate and analyze the impact of retailing strategies on the agrobiodiversity of organic farms. A survey of farms located in rural areas near large urban centers (three metropolitan regions in Southern Brazil and four Italian regions) was undertaken. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The analysis indicates that the farms surveyed maintained a high level of agrobiodiversity and active participation in alternative food networks. Our findings point out that there was a significant and positive correlation between the crop richness index and the share of farm sales through alternative food networks. We conclude that adopting various forms of direct sale is the key factor in stimulating farms’ agrobiodiversity, but proximity to densely populated areas is a necessary precondition for the development of the short food supply chains needed to stimulate the diversification of organic agriculture.

Introduction: Although interest in the so-called short food supply chains (SFSC) has grown in recent decade, studies and social innovations that emerged from this phenomenon have made little progress in involving food actors outside the home. The article analyzes the conditioning factors for forming short food supply chains involving food services and organic farmers’ organizations, understanding them as potential social innovations.Methods: The research used questionnaires with food services, participant and non-participant observations, and secondary data analysis with regional farmers’ organizations in the Greater Florianópolis region.Results: Food services, which mostly do not yet purchase organic products from local producers, are interested in integrating purchasing initiatives directly from farmers and their organizations. However, they have presented several conditions for this. Nevertheless, farmers have the capacity, at least in part, to respond to the required conditions due to their innovative trajectory and socio-organizational capacity.Discussion: The provision of food services, associated with the trajectory of social innovations in SFSC by farmers around Florianópolis, shows a potential to converge different interests for the generation of new initiatives, following the innovative trajectory led by social actors who work with the rural area. This could increase the impact of ongoing SFSC initiatives, ensuring consumers access local food, even when eating out.

The current food system is characterized by several negative externalities such as socio-environmental crisis and food-safety problems. In this context, forms of food production like agroecology and organic farming are growing. In Brazil the Social Control Organizations (OCS) regulation is allowing direct sale of products from family farming. Few studies have been done about the potential of OCS to develop short food supply chains of spatial proximity. Taking as theoretical focus the short food supply chains, it was analyzed the forms of institutionalized organic in Brazil with focus on the potential of OCS in supporting agroecological green belts development. Through mapping the data from the National Register of Organic Producers, an increase in the number of regularized producers and farms and a higher concentration of OCS producers around highly populated urban centres has been observed. Finally, the data analysis suggests that OCS support agroecological green belts development and their growth could facilitate the access to organic food and increase social and environmental benefits to urban areas.

Objetivou-se avaliar a percepção ambiental dos moradores do entorno da Reserva Florestal Mata de Cazuzinha, na cidade de Cruz das Almas, BA, relativo às questões de caça nessa área protegida. O foco da pesquisa foi centralizado na entrevista de 32 moradores do entorno desta área, a qual permitiu avaliar a percepção dos mesmos em relação à caça, mediante a observação de campo e aplicação de questionários e entrevistas semiestruturados. Os resultados permitem apontar uma redução drástica das atividades referentes a caça e captura de animais na reserva. Aproximadamente metade da comunidade acredita que os responsáveis por essas atividades sejam os jovens e adultos. A diversão foi apontada como ser a causa principal de caçar animais na mata, e mesmo não sendo a favor desta, uma significativa parcela da amostra justifica essa atividade quando se mostrar necessária à sobrevivência da família. No que tange à legalidade desta prática, a maioria dos moradores caracterizam a caça como ato ilegal. Conclui-se que a falta de supervisão e fiscalização que reprima a destruição de habitats e a insuficiência das abordagens da educação ambiental, evidencia necessidade de maiores investimentos por parte do poder público para a preservação da fauna e demais recursos naturais.