DuPuis and Goodman (2005) define the alternative food agenda by its rejection of the
global, industrial, environmentally degrading conventional food system. Unfortunately,
this only describes what an alternative food network is not, and does not shed light on the
particular characteristics that make a food network alternative. Morgan et al. (2006) take
the definition one step further by explaining that all alternative food networks share three
common traits: (1) they redistribute value through the network in the opposite direction of
the bulk commodity system; (2) they re-instill trust between the producer and the consumer; and (3) they articulate new forms of political association and market governance.
As with many attempts to generalize about shared characteristics of complex systems such
as food networks, these three characteristics lack sufficient detail to explain the totality of
alternative food networks. For example, Pollan (2006a) outlines an alternative food network based on organic spring lettuce mixes from California. The producer scaled up to
meet the demand of a niche market (Pollan 2006a). In the end, the producer lost control of
his product because the purchasing corporation took over distribution, marketing, and
retailing. The producer said, ‘‘We are part of the food industry now.’’ (Pollan 2006a,
p. 159). Organic production is an alternative, but in cases such as this, the alternative may not fulfill the qualification for redistributing value in the opposite direction of the conventional system. Watts et al. (2005) describe this dilemma as maintaining the ecological integrity of
the alternative food network while ignoring the economic and social components.