Environmental Conservation and « Alternative » Food Production in Bas-Saint-Laurent, Québec
« Alternative » food production projects have been proposing a different take on environmental conservation in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region (Province of Québec) for the past 20 years. This region, which has been struggling for decades with a difficult economic situation, has significantly less protected natural areas as compared to the rest of the province. The people behind these alternative food projects are putting forward environmentally respectful agricultural practices. More particularly, they are involved in environmental conservation by combining different practices, such as nature and biodiversity protection and an economic development approach that focuses on local production. These projects could be complementary to existing government-led initiatives and help to attain its conservation goals. Examining the pressures that alternative food projects are facing will allow us to analyze the possibility that they contribute to these goals.