While a significant amount of research has been produced in Canada on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs in general, very little work has been undertaken specifically with regard to the role of social media and emerging Internet technologies. While Health Canada has reaffirmed that existing DTCA regulations apply to new Internet and social media technologies, there are several unique features of these technologies that make the application of existing regulations an uncertain process. Further, given the difficulties Health Canada has faced in directly regulating DTCA in traditional media, there is significant skepticism around whether government regulators have the resources or political will to effectively monitor new digital media. Consequently, independent third party oversight and industry self-regulation may play an important role in regulating digital channels. Finally, regulators should not simply be limited to regulating online DTCA; social media is equally available to government for use in health promotion.

This thesis examines the regulation of the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry through analysis of the industry's use of wrap contracts (clickwrap and browsewrap), A significant portion of the thesis consists of a comparative document review of the publicly available wrap contracts of DTCGT companies provided tests for health purposes. It also considers other regulatory responses to date. Due to the lack of industry specific regulation it argues that the use of wrap contracts can be viewed as a means of industry self-regulation and a form of private legislation. This means that governance is skewed heavily in favour of companies and it creates an imbalance in the respective rights and obligations of the parties - company and consumer - which is likely to result in consumer detriment. It is argued that certain types of terms commonly include in DTCGT contracts, including: unilateral variation clauses; some exclusion clauses; choice of law clauses; indemnity; and consent clauses are likely to be deemed unfair and unenforceable under UK law. It recommends that in the short-term the Competition and Markets Authority should undertake a compliance review of DTCGT contracts in order to improving contracts for consumers. In the long term, companies should also be complying with data protection law, as well as legislation on medical devices and the provisions of the Human Tissue Act and there may be a need for industry specific legislation.

In response to trends that challenge food access, farmer livelihoods and public health, several market and social institutions have pursued the development of alternative food systems (AFS). These attempt to support the production and distribution of foods with important qualities, such as attention to specific growing practices, higher worker standards, superior product quality and taste, support for environmental health and farmer well-being (Valchuis et al. 2015). While there has been some success in these efforts, as evidenced by the growth of farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture programs, and farm-to-institution relationships, growth in direct to consumer markets has flattened in recent years (USDA 2012) and there are still many barriers that limit the efficacy and reach of AFS. Farmers and distributors are constantly innovating, trialing new ideas and re-thinking old ones in hopes of overcoming or circumventing these challenges. The Farm Fresh Food Box (F3B) project is one such market innovation that hybridizes direct to consumer (DTC) and value chain models with the goal of expanding producer sales and improving rural food access. Researchers and extension professionals from University of Vermont, University of Washington, Evergreen State College, and University of California studied the efficacy of F3B as a potential food system innovation through an applied project in partnership with small farmers and retailers. Research efforts focused on understanding challenges and opportunities for success within the model, as well as gleaning fundamental take-aways to better inform the broader knowledge of the continuum between DTC and value chain distribution systems. This thesis considers findings from the first half of this research project. The first article Farm Fresh Food Boxes: Pilot Study Findings of Farmer-Rural Retailer Partners assesses the pilot season of the project and identifies major challenges and associated learning opportunities, with a focus on implications for Extension personnel.The second article, Farm Fresh Food Boxes: Relationships in Value-Chain Partnerships, merges existing knowledge of strategies and barriers that characterize DTC with current understanding of value-chains to better understand the process of expanding into new consumer populations. This analysis focuses on how the quality of the relationship between producers and retailers impacts overall success when expanding into new or unusual venues. Unlike much of the previous value-chain research, this paper places unique emphasis on the importance of the farmer-retailer relationship.

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The research examines the target market for a meat product produced by the local university. Further, desirable attributes of meat and how consumers definition of “locally produced and/or raised” are identified. A total of 290 personal interviews were completed in San Luis Obispo County, California on the consumers’ willingness to purchase Cal Poly meat. Likely purchasers are found to be 31 percent of the San Luis Obispo population. The target buyer of Cal poly meat products are both male and females, who tend to be older, and make more than $60,000 a year. Local is defined by 31 percent of likely Cal Poly Meats buyers as being grown and/or raised within the county they reside in, and also shared by residents of San Luis Obispo County. Additionally, it was found local vegetables are a more highly valued product than local meats, fruits, and wines product grown within the San Luis Obispo County.

Locally oriented food has recently gained considerable popularity as an alternative to the industrial food system. Current scholarship on local food has typically focused on direct-to-consumer (DTC) arrangements, such as farmers' markets or CSAs. Yet other players besides producers and consumers engage with locally-oriented food. Food vendors (restaurants, retailers and grocers, and value-added food processors) have recently entered the scene and locally-oriented farm-to-vendor arrangements constitute one of the cutting edges of the development of local food systems. This dissertation studies one such local food system in southern New England. Utilizing a mixed methods approach entailing social network analysis, in-depth interviews, fieldwork observations, and GIS analysis, this study interrogates how direct-to-vendor (DTV) local food systems operate. I show through the literature review that though local food systems hold considerable promise, they are not inherent mechanisms of sustainability. Next I turn to the question of what "counts" as local, examining the range of distances farms and vendors within this region travel to sell or purchase food, and asking what are the forces and conditions that influence this range of travel? The greatest influences are number of ties to other local food entities, what type of farm or food-vendor they are, size, and urban proximity. I then focus on key participants in the area of study. What are the challenges and constraints around developing a vibrant locally-based food system? These participants face continual pressure to expand their size and markets, emulating the dominant food system and thereby undercutting their sustainable potential. However, these participants also find ways to overcome what are sometimes contradictory interests to forge a functional locally-based food system based on reciprocity and trust. Due in part to price premiums on local food many local food participants tend to be white and have high incomes and levels of education. In the final empirical chapter I ask: in what ways do these inequalities manifest systematically? By geospatially mapping the locations of local food outlets against census data on race, income, and education, I show that racial and class advantages are perpetuated in terms of people's proximal access to these local food outlets.

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