Resumen de Food supply chains and sustainability: evidence from specialist food producers in the Scottish/English borders
Despite an increasing interest in more sustainable forms of land management, few analyses have examined whether �local� or �alternative� food supply systems are sustainable in environmental, economic and social terms. Using SUSTAIN's �sustainable food� criteria, this paper analyses the sustainability of a number of �speciality� food supply chains operated by small rural enterprises in the Scottish/English borders. Results indicate that, in the main, the case study businesses are not particularly sustainable; instead, driven by a strong economic imperative, they often have to �dip� into various �links� associated with more conventional (commodity-based) food supply chains. The paper concludes by warning against the tendency to conflate terms such as �local�, �alternative�, �speciality� and �sustainable�.
