Production and Marketing Systems of Mountain Food Products
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2022) | Viewed by 2777
Special Issue Editor
Interests: mountain agriculture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Despite the lack of a unitary definition of “mountain” in the EU and on a global scale, mountains cover roughly one-fifth of the world’s land mass and are home to one-tenth of the world’s population. To most of us mountains present an image of purity and of tradition, preserved landscapes and places of high biodiversity. For the people who live in the mountains, the image is not so idyllic. Agriculture, as a main economic activity in mountains, faces a number of constraints including shorter agricultural seasons, geographical inaccessibility, ecological fragility with growing consequences of climate changes, limited infrastructure, and distant markets. However, these difficulties are somewhat balanced by the high quality of food products cultivated in these areas. Mountain food, with the unique characteristics of its raw materials and traditional processing conditions, has received increasing interest in recent years, but the farmers and mountain processors still struggle with consumer recognition on the market. Although many mountain food products were already included in different geographical indications, the biggest leap in mountain food products’ visibility was made with the Regulation in 2012 for the recognition and protection of mountain food. The specific label “mountain food product” is an optional quality term which came in force in July 2014, that gives producers a chance to increase the consumer interest in these products and to boost the sustainable development of these economically marginal rural areas. This development process is in its initial stage and is not linear nor definite. It covers many different aspects from nature conservation and environmental sustainability to economics, tourism, technological innovation, mountain policy, and more. In this regard, the mountain food products have an important position in farm to fork strategies.
Dr. Andreja N. Borec
Guest Editor
Keywords
- mountain food
- mountain food added value
- food labels
- mountain agro-food supply chain
- nutritional quality
- quality protocols
- mountain agrobiodiversity
- mountain farming climate change adaptation
- mountain tourism
- mountain government and policy
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