There's been a growing local food movement not only in the United States but worldwide in the past few years, as more and more people lean toward locally grown products when it's time to shop food for their homes, visiting more and more food markets and fairs - and the reason is more complex than these products just tasting better or being healthier.
Researchers from the University of Iowa have surveyed the reasoning behind the growing local food movement, and found that there are all kinds of ulterior correlations to why people shop local, including their personal values, how many years of education they have on their résumé and even simply the comfort of knowing personally who it is that grows their food.
According to International Business Times, the study has shown that those who take part in the local food movement as buyers do so because of their own beliefs about civic duty, as this group of people is also called "locavores."
Phys.Org reports that other reasons that the local food movement is due to a sense of community: those who buy and eat locally grown produce feel like doing so makes them a part of a greater community of people who shares a passion for healthier food options and a sustainable environment.
"It's not just about the economical exchange; it's a relational and ideological exchange as well," said Ion Vasi, a corresponding author of the study. "It's about valuing the relationship with the farmers and people who produce the food and believing that how they produce the food aligns with your personal values."
For the local food movement study, Vasi and colleagues looked at the number of farmers markets, food coops, local food restaurants and the like throughout the U.S., then conducting 40 interviews with consumers and producers in Iowa and New York, finding that their love of locally grown food stood firmly on cultivating relationships with those like them.
According to Science Daily, previous related studies by political scientists and sociologists have argued that higher income allows making more lifestyle decisions such as joining the local food movement, and higher income (as well as more awareness about the environment) is often associated with being educated.
