ICT Relevance at Food Short Channels

Abstract

In recent decades there has been a growth in healthier forms of production (agroecological products) and more direct forms of linkage between producer and consumer (short channels). In turn, the spread of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) fosters direct contact between producers and consumers. This paper analyzes the trajectory of social appropriation of ICT in agroecological food marketing short circuits based on the case study Tu Raíz, an entrepreneurship in the southeast of the province of Buenos Aires. In addition, it is proposed to reflect on their actions in the face of the Social, Preventive and Mandatory Isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Concepts from the Theory of Communication and the Sociology of Innovation are used, understanding ICT as communication technologies that are socially constructed. Following qualitative methodology, interviews are conducted, physical spaces are observed and digital spaces are analyzed. Based on the trajectory of the case study, an attempt is made to reflect on the importance of ICT in this type of entrepreneurship, while at the same time allowing us to visualize how their expansion is favored during the pandemic in those cases that have already been working with ICT.