Overcoming Barriers to Scaling Up Sustainable Alternative Food Systems: A Comparative Case Study of Two Ontario-Based Wholesale Produce Auctions

Abstract

Conventional food systems are viewed by the literature as unsustainable in that they provide consumers with convenience while disconnecting them from producers thus leading to environmental and social problems. By contrast, sustainable or "alternative" food systems are viewed as correcting such problems. Wholesale produce auctions, which are well established in the Old Order Mennonite community, are physical sites where large quantities of produce are sold through a competitive bidding process to local buyers. These are seen as a way of better connecting producers and consumers and thus realizing a more sustainable food system. However, this potential has not been tested. Therefore, this paper explores two produce auctions in southwestern Ontario, Canada, using an interview based methodology (N = 48) and demonstrates that despite wholesale produce auctions offering many opportunities to promote the benefits of alternative food systems, produce auctions are limited in that they fail to provide a practical and functional way of distributing food to individual consumers. Overall, this research highlights what appears to be a tension in the alternative food systems literature: producers and consumers may be simultaneously looking for the sustainability benefits associated with "alternative food systems" without wanting to sacrifice any of the convenience found in conventional food systems.

A Multi-Actor Literature Review on Alternative and Sustainable Food Systems for the Promotion of Cereal Biodiversity

“…These drivers are represented by the growing consumer interest in alternative food products and production methods, the importance of the service sector in emphasizing traceability, the role of rural tourism in fostering demand for this kind of products, urbanization, and rural restructuring [53,54]. Finally, food hubs and auction marts could also have a role in scaling up AFNs, offering greater convenience and affordability to consumers [55].…”

Financial Viability of an On-Farm Processing and Retail Enterprise: A Case Study of Value-Added Agriculture in Rural Kentucky (USA)

“…In short, the farm store lacked a sufficient economy of scale to reach profitability, depended heavily on higher-paid skilled labor, and used higher-cost material inputs carrying third-party certifications for meeting organic and animal-welfare standards, all while attempting to match the retail prices of the nearby grocery chains. Similar difficulties in achieving adequate scale to sustain business enterprises within alternative food networks have been described for farmers markets [62], CSAs [63], food hubs [64,65], wholesale produce auctions [66], and even well-funded, online retail platforms [67].…”

Selection of a Sustainable Functional Pasta Enriched with Opuntia Using ELECTRE III Methodology

“…In this sense, further investigations on the market demand have to be conducted because consumer acceptance has been recognized as a key factor to successfully negotiate market opportunities. Finally, producing functional foods must be cost effective in conventional terms, by comparing the resources consumed relative to the benefits they provide [41,42]. Techno-economic analysis for the production of this new functional pasta is in fact necessary both for considering industrial scale dimension and legislative aspects as well as for evaluating the profitability of the investment and to measure the period of time required to recover the funds expended.…”