Future Paths for Local and Alternative Food Systems

Globally, food systems are in continuous transition. The pressure on land resources is immense, as they are crucial to sustaining food systems and accommodating increases in food production and other land-dependent commodities. Climate change, digitalisation, policies promoting decarbonisation, food activism, and a series of other forces urge the transformation of food production, supply, and consumption. Local and alternative food systems (e.g., short food supply chains, community-supported agriculture, digital food platforms) operate as niches within the dominant, industrialised agri-food nexus, representing alternative food production and distribution models to the globalised mode of food provisioning. These schemes generate varying types of value (economic, environmental, social), relocalising food and reconnecting farmers and consumers.

Although research on local and alternative food systems continuously grows, the emphasis on those systems' future(s) is limited. The present special issue aims to serve as a forum, hosting theoretical and empirical work that explores the future of alternative and local food systems under various scenarios by using robust conceptual models and anticipation instruments.

This research topic welcomes high-quality reviews and research papers focused on a wide array of subjects related to the future of local and alternative food systems. We aim to bring together a collection of articles systematically and critically engaging with issues related but not limited to:

• The factors that shape the futures of local and alternative food systems (short food supply chains, community-supported agriculture, agroecological food systems, digitalised food systems).
• The paths to improve local food systems.
• Innovative approaches to understanding the influence of global production networks on local and alternative food systems, and their impact on sustainable land use practices.
• The transformative potential of digital technology for local and alternative food systems and their influence on sustainable land use practices.
• The preparedness of local and alternative food systems to cope with future crises, and the pillars of their resilience capacity.
• The positive and negative emergent properties of local and alternative food systems and the futures that they create, particularly in relation to land use change and food security.
• The governance schemes that can promote positive transformations for local and alternative food systems, and the ways governance models and mechanisms can help improve farmers’ livelihoods and increase consumers’ food security.
• The roles that (technology-oriented, social, and land use) research and (technological, social, and micro-) innovation can play in facilitating desirable transformations of local and alternative food systems.
• The new skills and competencies that will help farmers who participate in local and alternative food systems navigate the complexities and uncertainties of different future(s).
• The new business models that can facilitate the twin transition of alternative food systems while ensuring sustainable land use and secure livelihoods.
• The impact of innovation policies on transforming local and alternative food systems and their implications for land use and food security.

Keywords: Alternative food networks, short food supply chains, digitalized food networks, future scenarios, sustainability

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.