What is it about?
This study explores how young people in Hungary—specifically those from Generation Z—understand and define local food. While local food is often thought to be about how close the food is produced to where it’s eaten, this research shows that for young consumers, values like health, freshness, quality, and trust matter more than distance. Using a word association game, the study found that emotional and value-based ideas are at the core of how this group sees local food. It also reveals that social relationships, such as trust in small farmers, are becoming more important in how local food is perceived. These insights suggest that producers and policymakers should focus on what matters most to consumers—values and trust—rather than just how local the food is.
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Why is it important?
This study provides a fresh perspective on how young people understand the idea of local food. While most research and policies still focus on the physical distance food travels, our findings show that Gen Z consumers care more about values like health, freshness, and trust. This shift in thinking is important because it suggests that the traditional way of defining local food no longer matches how younger generations perceive it. By combining proximity theory with social representation theory, the research introduces a new way to analyze consumer attitudes. These insights can help producers, marketers, and policymakers better align their efforts with what really matters to consumers today—building trust and promoting quality, rather than just emphasizing geographic origin.
Perspectives
For me, my research has a deeper motivation: to reconnect people with the real value of food. In today’s fast-paced, globalized world, many of us have become disconnected from how food is produced and from the people who produce it. We often reduce food to price tags or labels, forgetting the relationships, values, and efforts behind it. Through this research, I wanted to explore how young consumers make sense of “local food” and what it really means to them. My hope is that this study contributes to building more awareness and appreciation for food—and ultimately encourages a closer, more meaningful connection between people and the food systems they rely on.
Veronika Laszlo
University of Pannonia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Exploring young consumer's understanding of local food through proximity and social representations, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, November 2024, Frontiers,
DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1464548.
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