ABSTRACT
The food system has undergone significant transformation during recent years. One dimension of this has been the rapid rise of ethical sourcing. Fair and ethical trade have become increasingly integrated within the mainstream of food production and retailing. There are many tensions between the commercial imperative for greater efficiency and lower cost that drives the global food system, and civil society pressure for fairer trade. A central question is the extent to which ethical sourcing is able to generate fairer trade and better conditions for the many small producers and insecure workers who provide the backbone to global food production. This volume has brought together a number of chapters on ethical sourcing in the global food system. These have explored some of its successes, but also the many challenges that ethical sourcing faces as it expands within the mainstream. Here we reflect on some of the key questions facing ethical sourcing as it advances in the future.
