Product Agriculture, Short Food Supply Chains and the Economic Vitality of Small Scale Agriculture

The conceptual orientation commonly used to describe and analyze the operation of small and mid-sized farms may not be as useful as is ordinarily assumed. Given common definitions of key concepts, one can fairly easily make the case that these farms are neither alternative nor sustainable, and are seldom local in sourcing of inputs or in sales of product. The purpose of this paper is to put forth a more unified approach that provides tools that effectively guide research on small scale agriculture as well as addressing issues regarding production and marketing. The overarching goal is move small scale agriculture toward economic viability. A unified set of concepts and orientation based on its own merits may better serve this purpose.