**3. The marketing of alternative foods**

and convenient options to healthy food. As a matter of fact, the results of this unsustainable production system are disastrous. It has contributed to the degradation of the conventional agriculture, and overall public health. In fact, the last two decades were driven by two major trends in the agriculture industry; first, an increase in the use of genetically modified food (GMO); and an increase in food-related diseases, such as mad cow, bird flu, and more recently

Emerging efforts to provide food safety and quality has led to growing number of national and international quality assurance schemes. To this end, several "new" alternatives eliminate a number of concerns towards industrial food production and distribution. These "alternative food" options include labels such as local, natural, pesticide-free, ecologically friendly, slow

often defined as within a 100-mile radius. In eating locally, most localvores hope to better understand their food sources and support their local economy. Advocates of these move‐ ments are against any industrialization of the food chain, its production and distribution. Three pillars are key here: food mileage, support for the local economy and production methods. It is clear that these new "sustainable" alternatives are based on food security principles: food

Embeddeness is a concept widely used in food system research. Borrowed from economic sociology, the concept of embeddedness is widely used to characterize the different types of food systems: the dis-embedded globalized system and the more embedded localized system [23]. The embeddedness concept can be used to enrich the understanding of the broader sets of values tied to consumer motivations to buy at farmers markets [7]. As a matter of fact, local markets, where people exchange goods and services, are embedded in a network of social relations and meaningful systems of norms and rules [16]. Central to local food systems is the face-to-face connections and interactions between producers and consumers. Global markets are shaped less by social networks and norms, and impose instead compliance with their own norms of efficiency, rationality, optimizing and 'time saving' behavior. This global food system is experiencing societal, cultural, and moral disembedding. Ethical embeddedness is also being criticized resulting in a growing sense of distrust. Perhaps the development of more local systems is a result of social theory. This theory suggests that in situations of increasing distrust, alternative movements will emerge as consumers get organized to overcome their sense of insecurity [16]. As a result, alternative food schemes such as farmers' markets and community supported agriculture have emerged giving consumers access to food they perceive to be less

The long term stability and sustainability of food systems is an interesting area of research. Academic literature on food research indicates a renewed interest in sustainable agriculture and food systems [4]. Sustainability has been described as having three conceptual pillars: social, environmental and economic factors. A sustainable food and agriculture system

is a person who eats foods grown locally; within

the horsegate.

6 Food Production and Industry

food movement, and localvores. A *localvore*<sup>1</sup>

access, utilization and stability [6].

**2.3. Embeddedness and sustainability**

harmful to the environment, society, and health.

1*local = place, vore = to consume*
