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Alternative Food Networks

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics

Synonyms

AFNs; Agro-food networks; Alternative food geographies; Alternative or shortened food chains; Community food; Food justice initiatives; Local food movement; Short food supply chains

Introduction

The term “Alternative Food Networks” (AFNs) describes the practice and an academic body of work surrounding the emergence of alternative food practices that emerged in the 1990s as a reaction against the standardization, globalization, and unethical nature of the industrial food system. Common examples include community supported agriculture, farmers’ markets, fair trade, urban agriculture, specialized forms of organic agriculture, direct farm retail, and the slow food movement. AFNs seek to diversify and transform modern food provisioning by connecting ethical producers and consumers in more local, direct ways. They build on an ethics of environmental sustainability, social justice, and animal welfare. AFNs endorse the creation of new exchange models that support a return to community...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Ferne Edwards

Authors
  1. Ferne Edwards
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ferne Edwards .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan State University Dept. Philosophy, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Paul B. Thompson

  2. University of North Texas Dept. Philosophy & Religion Studies, Denton, Texas, USA

    David M. Kaplan

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© 2016 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Australia

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Edwards, F. (2016). Alternative Food Networks. In: Thompson, P., Kaplan, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_513-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_513-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6167-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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