In the last two decades, the topic of sustainability has moved from the fringes of supply chain management research to the mainstream and is now an area of significant research activity, and in particular the short food supply chains (SFSCs). The growing interest in SFSCs reflects the consumer demand for quality and traceability, given the alarming health crises in food markets. The SFSCs’ have potential to increase farm value added (margin distribution), promote sustainable farming systems, diversify production and contribute to local economic development. There are many different forms of SFSC, but they share a common characteristic of reduced numbers of intermediaries between the farmer or food producer, and the consumer. From a customers' point of view, SFSCs transfer more complete information about the origin of the food and, for producers, SFSCs retain a higher share of added value. In this paper, we highlight the importance of SFSC for sustainable economic development and present the current situation in EU. The SFSCs have potential to increase farm value added (profit allocation), promote sustainable farming systems, diversify production and contribute to local economic development.

Proceedings in Food System Dynamics, Proceedings in System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks 2018