Alternative food movements have been taking place in
many parts of the world. The Japanese version is known as
the teikei movement. It is a partnership between growers
and consumers in which farmers share organically grown
produce and, in return, consumers support and secure
viable farm operations. This partnership aims to restore and
enhance the ecological and agricultural landscapes of farms
and their surrounding areas. In essence, the teikei is a
grassroots movement that intends to create an alternative
agrifood system through organic farming and its consumption. Teikei’s history dates back to around the 1960s
and early 1970s. Since then, teikei has become a forerunner
of the alternative food system and has inspired similar
initiatives, such as community supported agriculture (CSA)
in the United States and the Association pour le maintien
de l’agriculture paysanne (AMAP) in France (Henderson
and van En 2007; Ostrom 2007).