The food crisis of 2008 and the current financial crisis, coupled with concerns of climate change, have fueled a renewed interest in alternative food production systems, namely,
local, organic and sustainable food systems. In many countries, firms are revising not only their short run objectives, but also their medium and long term goals. Most developed economies have identified the adoption of environmentally sustainable technologies as a major building block of the strategy to exit the crisis (Agrisole, 2009). Therefore, the adoption of sustainable technologies and the production of environmentally friendly goods and services is poised to be a crucial competitive tool in the global marketplace in the medium-long run (Agrisole, 2009). Non-conventional production and processing methods – e.g. organic and biodynamic techniques – provide important positive social and environmental externallitiies, and may offer viable alternative to traditional production systems, particularly in terms of coping strategies in times of crisis.