Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:41:43.209Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Profiling alternative food system supporters: The personal and social basis of local and organic food support

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Molly Bean  and
Jeff S. Sharp
Molly Bean*
Affiliation:
Social Responsibility Initiative, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Jeff S. Sharp
Affiliation:
Rural Sociology Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
*
*Corresponding author: bean.21@osu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Consumers appear increasingly interested in how to engage in consumptive practices that lead to a more sustainable food and agricultural system. In this paper, we examine two possible consumptive pathways for achieving sustainability: the purchase of organic foods and/or the purchase of local foods. While there is some debate regarding the integrity and sustainability of organic versus locally produced foods, there is limited information examining the similarities or differences among consumers variably interested in one or the other attribute. Using data from a statewide survey of Ohio, USA, respondents and members of a food cooperative and an environmental and social responsibility organization, a typology is proposed and comparisons are made among different types of local and organic food consumers regarding their attitudes about food, agriculture and the environment. While a large proportion of the survey respondents expressed little or only modest interest in either local or organic foods, distinct groups of respondents interested in primarily the local attribute, primarily the organic attribute, and both attributes are identified. The results reveal similarities and differences across types with the profiles of each type of consumer contributing to a more nuanced view of supporters of these foods that can assist in production decisions, as well as purchasing and marketing decisions among retailers.

Keywords

local foodorganic foodconsumersalternative food systemssustainable food
Type
Research Papers
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 243 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Berlin, L., Lockeretz, W., and Bell, R. 2009. Purchasing foods produced on organic, small and local farms: A mixed method analysis of New England consumers. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 24:267–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Fromartz, S. 2006. Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew. Harcourt Inc., Orlando, FL.Google Scholar
3Greene, C. and Dimitri, C. 2009. Organic agriculture: Organic market overview. Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. Available at Web site: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Organic/Demand.htm (accessed January 15, 2010).Google Scholar
4Organic Trade Association. The Organic Industry. Available at Web site http://www.ota.com/pics/documents/Mini%20fact%201-08%20confirming.pdf (accessed December 21, 2007).Google Scholar
5Rigby, D. and Caceres, D. 2001. Organic farming and the sustainability of agricultural systems. Agricultural Systems 68:21–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Guthman, J. 1998. Regulating meaning, appropriating nature: the codification of California organic agriculture. Antipode 30:135–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Vos, T. 2000. Visions of the middle landscape: organic farming and the politics of nature. Agriculture and Human Values 17:245–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Guthman, J. 2004. The trouble with ‘organic lite’ in California: a rejoinder to the ‘conventionalisation’ debate. Sociologia Ruralis 44:301–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Hall, A. and Mogyorody, V. 2001. Organic farmers in Ontario: an examination of the conventionalization argument. Sociologia Ruralis 41:399–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10DeLind, L. 2006. Of bodies, place, and culture: resituating local food. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 19:121–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Ilbery, B. and Maye, D. 2006. Retailing local food in the Scottish-English borders: a supply chain perspective. GeoForum 37:352–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12DeLind, L.B. 2000. Transforming organic agriculture into industrial organic products: reconsidering national organic standards. Human Organization 59(2):198–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Lyson, T.A. 2004. Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community. Tufts University Press, Medford, MA.Google Scholar
14Born, B. and Purcell, M. 2006. Avoiding the local trap: scale and food systems in planning research. Journal of Planning Education and Research 26:195–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15Allen, P., FitzSimmons, M., Goodman, M., and Warner, K. 2003. Shifting plates in the agrifood landscape: The tectonics of alternative agrifood initiatives in California. Journal of Rural Studies 19:61–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Hinrichs, C.C. 2000. Embeddedness and local food systems: notes on two types of direct agricultural markets. Journal of Rural Studies 16:295–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17DeLind, L.B. 2002. Place, work and civic agriculture: common fields for cultivation. Agriculture and Human Values 19:217–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18Ostrom, M. 2006. ‘Everyday meanings of ‘local food’: views from home and field. Community Development 37:65–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Raynolds, L.T. 2002. Consumer/producer links in fair trade coffee networks. Sociologia Ruralis 42:404–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Winter, M. 2003. Embeddedness, the new food economy and defensive localism. Journal of Rural Studies 19:23–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21Lea, E. and Worsley, T. 2005. Australians’ organic food beliefs, demographics and values. British Food Journal 107:855–869.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22Magnusson, M.K., Arvola, A., Hursti, U.K., Aberg, L., and Sjoden, P. 2003. Choice of organic foods is related to perceived consequences for human health and to environmentally friendly behavior. Appetite 40:109–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Dimitri, C. and Greene, C. 2002. Recent growth patterns in the U.S. organic foods market. Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture (AIB-777). Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib777/aib777c.pdf (accessed July 30, 2006).Google Scholar
24DuPuis, E.M. 2000. Not in my body: rBGH and the rise of organic milk. Agriculture and Human Values 17:285–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25Halkier, B. 2001. Risk and food: environmental concerns and consumer practices. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 36:801–812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Michaelidou, N. and Hassan, L.M. 2008. The role of health consciousness, food safety concern and ethical identity on attitudes and intentions towards organic food. International Journal of Consumer Studies 32:163–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Tomazic, T.J., Katz, B.M., and Harris, C.K. 2002. Is that strawberry safe to eat? Consumer attitudes about food safety. In Wimberly, R.C., Harris, C.K., Molnar, J.J., and Tomazic, T.J. (eds), The Social Risks of Agriculture. Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, p. 57–74.Google Scholar
28Rimal, A.P., Moon, W., and Balasubramanian, S. 2005. Agro-biotechnology and organic food purchase in the United Kingdom. British Food Journal 107:84–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Tregear, A., Dent, J.B., and McGregor, M.J. 1994. The demand for organically-grown produce. British Food Journal 96:21–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Huang, C.L. 1996. Consumer preferences and attitudes toward organically grown produce. European Review of Agricultural Economics 23:331–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Hassanein, N. 2004. Locating food democracy. Paper presented at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society. Sacramento, CA, August 13, 2004.Google Scholar
32Tegtmeier, E.M. 2003. Factors affecting symbolic and use adoption of local foods for consumers in Black Hawk County, Iowa. Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.Google Scholar
33Renting, H., Marsden, T.K., and Banks, J. 2003. Understanding alternative food networks: exploring the role of short food supply chains in rural development’. Environment and Behavior A 35:393–411.Google Scholar
34Pugliese, P. 2001. Organic farming and sustainable rural development: a multifaceted and promising convergence. Sociologia Ruralis 41:112–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35Cone, C.A. and Kakaliouras, A. 1995. Community supported agriculture: building moral community or an alternative consumer community. Culture and Agriculture 51/52:28–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
36Stephenson, G. and Lev, L. 2004. Common support for local agriculture in two contrasting Oregon Communities. Journal of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (formerly American Journal of Alternative Agriculture) 19(4):210–217.Google Scholar
37Bruhn, C.M., Vossen, P.M., Chapman, E., and Vaupel, S. 1992. Consumer attitudes toward locally grown produce. California Agriculture 46:13–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38Alkon, A. 2008. Paradise or pavement: the social constructions of the environment in two urban farmers’ markets and their implications for environmental justice and sustainability. Local Environment 13:271–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
39Hill, H. and Lynchehaun, F. 2002. Organic milk: attitudes and consumption patterns. British Food Journal 104:526–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
40Weatherell, C., Tregear, A., and Allinson, J. 2003. In search of the concerned consumer: UK public perceptions of food, farming and buying local. Journal of Rural Studies 19:233–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
41Dillman, D.A. 2000. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York.Google Scholar
42Baker, G.A. and Burnham, T.A. 2001. Consumer response to genetically modified foods. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 26:387–403.Google Scholar
43Dagevos, H. 2005. Consumers as four-faced creatures: looking at food consumption from the perspective of contemporary consumers. Appetite 45:32–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
44Hartman, H. 1999. Marketing to the New Natural Consumer: Understanding Trends in Wellness. The Hartman Group Inc., Bellevue, WA.Google Scholar
45Punj, G. and Stewart, D.W. 1983. Cluster analysis in marketing research: review and suggestions for application. Journal of Marketing Research 20:134–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
46Wolfson, M., Madjd-Sadjadi, Z., and James, P. 2004. Identifying national types: a cluster analysis of politics, economics and conflict. Journal of Peace Research 41(5):607–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
47Aldenderfer, M.S. and Blashfield, R.K. 1984. Cluster Analysis. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
48Selfa, T., Jussaume, R.A., and Winter, M. 2008. Envisioning agricultural sustainability from field to plate: comparing producer and consumer attitudes and practice toward ‘environmentally friendly’ food and farming in Washington State, USA. Journal of Rural Studies 24:262–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
49Allen, P. 2008. Mining for justice in the food system: perceptions, practices and possibilities. Agriculture and Human Values 25:157–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar