| ‘Local food’ exhibits the potential to increase consumer engagement ‘in place’, while subsuming the positive attributes of “whole” and “organic”. As a result, the growing local food movement has been portrayed as a serious challenge to the conventional food system, one that could play a significant role in promoting local agricultural sustainability.;To understand the potential of ‘local food’, and CSA in particular, this study has approached food choice as a conceptual process, establishing boundaries which guide consumer decisions and provide stability. Reflexive challenges to the legitimacy of the conventional food system—from unknowable risk to unanticipated effects—force the consumer to re-define the conceptual foundation of their food choices, thereby motivating a change to local food. The diversity of the identified challenges indicates that exposure to reflexivity—and the potential for adoption of alternatives—is widespread. However, while local food may consequently find broad consumer appeal, the “local” is not where it used to be. |
