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This article reviews recent research into alternative systems of food provision. It considers, first, what the concept of`alternativeness' might mean, based on recent discussions in economic geography. Informed by this, it discusses food relocalization and the turn to `quality' food production, arguing that both are `weaker' alternative systems of food provision because of their emphasis on food. It then examines some `stronger' alternative systems of food provision, which emphasize the networks through which food passes. Lastly, the paper reflects on the concept of alternativeness in the context of food supply chains, and suggests some possible directions for future research.

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In this paper findings are presented from survey work conducted with producers of specialist livestock products in the Scottish–English borders. Using supply-chain diagrams, the paper highlights how specialist livestock businesses operate individual or customised supply chains. The heterogeneity of surveyed producer initiatives throws into question both the simple conceptual distinction drawn between the labels ‘conventional’ and ‘alternative’ and also what is meant by a ‘short’ food supply chain. The starting point of the specialist food chain is clearly not the point of production but rather a series of upstream supply links—as is found in conventional food chains. Likewise, ‘alternative’ producers are regularly obliged, or choose, to ‘dip in and out’ of different conventional nodes downstream of the business, such as abattoirs, processors, and wholesalers. In practice, delimitations between ‘alternative’ and ‘conventional’ food supply chains are often blurred and are better characterised as ‘hybrid spaces’.