2017 Volume 63 Issue 2 Pages 115-135
This study examines the creation of the supply chain for wine grapes (i.e., short food supply chain [SFSC]) in the Noto Region, with a focus on the knowledge and technology construction of wine grape production. The processes of knowledge and technology construction in the study area have evolved in accordance with the network of actors, both human and non-human, either lengthening or shrinking spatially. Acquiring new knowledge and technologies for wine grape production has specifically involved networking among actors from different regions. Knowledge coordination (i.e., embedding knowledge and technology in the ecological environment), sharing, and modification have been based on a proximity relationship among local actors. These construction processes have mobilized diverse non-human actors (e.g., knowledge, texts soil, rain, and events) in the network, and the concrete practices of human actors have been shaped within their occasional relationships with non-human actors. The supply chain of wine grapes in the Noto Region has been created and reproduced as a consequence of the recursive accumulation of these practices of human actors. The knowledge and technology construction process in the study area possibly has much in common with the creation process of the general food supply chain. Specifically, the phases of knowledge acquisition and coordination play a crucial role in SFSC creation.
