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This thesis explores how to conduct a regional foodshed assessment and further provides guidance to local and regional planners on the use of foodshed assessments. A foodshed is the geographic origin of a food supply. Before the 1800s, foodsheds were predominantly local — within the city or neighboring countryside. Today most urban areas are supported by a global foodshed. While the global foodshed can present many benefits, it also creates tremendous externalities. In an attempt to address these concerns, promotion of alternative local foodsheds has re-emerged. A foodshed assessment serves as a planning tool for land use planners, as well as for local food advocates, offering an understanding of land use implications that is not often carefully considered. By determining the food needs of a region’s population, the land base needed to support that population can then be identified. In this way, planners can have a stronger basis for promoting working farmland preservation measures and strengthening the local foodshed. This thesis compares the approaches of five previous foodshed assessments and presents a model for conducting an assessment on a regional level. This model is then applied to the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts with the goal of determining how much the agricultural production in the Pioneer Valley fulfills the food consumption needs of the region’s population. The assessment also compares the amount of current working farmlands to open lands available for farming, and the extent of farmland necessary to meet regional food demand for various diet types.

Titel: Konsumenters uppfattningar som påverkar köpbeslut av lokalproducerad mat Författare: Kim Andersson och Klara Dandic Handledare: Jasenko Flodin Arsenovic Syfte: Syftet med denna undersökning är att analysera de faktorer som styr konsumenternas beslut vid köp av lokalt producerade livsmedel genom att analysera förhållandet mellan konsumenternas uppfattningar om skepticism, kvalitet, välbefinnande i förhållande till betalningsvilja. Metod: Denna studie har en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi tillsammans med en deduktiv ansats. Data samlades in från svenska och kroatiska konsumenter från fyra undersökningar (n = 405 deltagare), där kroatiska och svenska konsumenter slumpmässigt gavs en scenariobaserad undersökning om lokalt eller icke-lokalt producerad mat. Slutsats: De erhållna forskningsresultaten visade att det inte fanns någon förstärkt effekt av demografiska faktorer på förhållandet mellan matens ursprung och betalningsvilja, med undantag för utbildningsnivån, som hade en signifikant men liten effekt. Forskningen visade också att konsumenterna uppfattar lokalt producerade livsmedel som mer högkvalitativa och att de upplever att de ökar det subjektiva välbefinnandet. Det påpekades att kvalitet förmedlar förhållandet mellan matens ursprung och välbefinnande. Skepticism visade sig vara en direkt faktor som påverkar konsumenternas betalningsvilja, och dessutom fastställdes att skepticism bland kroater och svenskar är diametralt olika, där kroater visade sig vara mycket skeptiska och svenskar mindre skeptiska, vilket gav rätt att betrakta skepticism som representativ för geografisk tillhörighet. Mindre skeptiska respondenter upplevde högre kvalitet och välbefinnande jämfört med mer skeptiska respondenter. Både kvalitet och välbefinnande förmedlade sambandet mellan skepticism och betalningsvilja, där mindre skeptiska respondenter var villiga att betala mer än mer skeptiska respondenter. Det är viktigt att påpeka att lokalproducerad mat inte har någon effekt på uppfattningen om skepticism, men att skepticism är en viktig förutsägelse när det gäller viljan att betala för lokalproducerad mat. Nyckelord: Lokalproducerad mat, Skepticism, Kvalitet, Välmående, Betalningsvilja / Title: Consumers' perceptions that influence purchase decisions of locally produced food Authors: Kim Andersson och Klara Dandic Supervisor: Jasenko Flodin Arsenovic Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyse the factors that control consumers' decisions when buying locally produced food by analysing the relationship between consumers' perceptions of scepticism, quality, well-being in relation to willingness to pay. Method: This study has a quantitative research strategy together with a deductive approach. Data were collected from Swedish and Croatian consumers from four surveys (n = 405 participants), where Croatian and Swedish consumers were randomly given a scenario-based survey about locally or non-locally produced food. Conclusion: The obtained research results showed that there was no enhanced effect of demographic factors on the relationship between food origin and willingness to pay, apart from the level of education, which had a significant but small effect. The research also showed that consumers perceive locally produced food as being of higher quality and that they perceive it as increasing subjective well-being. It was noted that quality mediates the relationship between food origin and well-being. Scepticism was found to be a direct factor influencing the consumer's willingness to pay, and furthermore, it was established that scepticism among Croatians and Swedes is diametrically different, with Croatians found to be highly sceptical and Swedes less sceptical, justifying considering scepticism as representative of geographical affiliation. Less sceptical respondents experienced higher quality and well-being compared to more sceptical respondents. Both quality and well-being mediated the relationship between scepticism and willingness to pay, with less sceptical respondents willing to pay more than more sceptical respondents. It is important to note that locally produced food has no effect on perceptions of scepticism, but that scepticism is an important predictor of willingness to pay for locally produced food. Keywords: Local food, Scepticism, Quality, Well-being, Willingness to pay

The industrialization of the global food system has drastically altered agricultural practices, transitioning from small-scale, subsistence farming to large-scale, transnational supply chains dominated by agribusinesses. While this shift has increased productivity, it has led to environmental degradation, economic inequity, and loss of traditional agricultural knowledge. This study explores the potential of public procurement of local food, particularly in school meals, to drive sustainable development, entrepreneurship, and innovation in rural Swedish communities while mitigating the negative aspects of industrialized agriculture. Using case studies, study visits, and semi-structured interviews with key informants representing school meal development and procurement from Hofors, Karlstad, and Östersund, this study aimed to identify the challenges and opportunities for municipalities to increase institutional consumption of local food within each municipality's local context. Processing these interviews using a systematic qualitative coding method and constructing thematic narratives provided insights into the barriers institutions face in procuring local food and highlighted strategies for enhancing collaboration between local producers and institutional consumers. Challenges in local food procurement include climate constraints, agricultural limitations, market dynamics, and legal and organizational barriers. Practical approaches to overcome these challenges include standardizing sustainable procurement policies, effective stakeholder communication, and collaborating with local businesses and organizations. This research highlights the pivotal role of public procurement in supporting resilient local food systems, especially in school meals. By addressing challenges and leveraging opportunities, institutions can play a significant role in promoting sustainability, supporting local entrepreneurs, and ensuring the vitality of rural communities in the face of global food system challenges.

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Miljön är ett diskuterat ämne och är en av de största utmaningarna som människan ställts inför hitintills. Inom livsmedelsbranschen kan ett förändrat intresse och köpbeteende ses, gällande miljöval och köp av ekologiska samt lokala produkter. Utifrån tidigare studier har det visats att det finns en förvirring gällande miljömärkta produkter där problematiken ligger i att det finns en kommunikationsbrist mellan lokala livsmedelsföretag och konsumenter.Vilka aspekter kan vara avgörande för hur lokala livsmedelsföretaggenom grön marknadsföring kan öka konsumenters medvetenhet omlokal mat?Syftet med undersökningen är att utforska och beskriva hur grön marknadsföring kan öka konsumenters medvetenhet om lokal mat. / The environment is a debated topic and is one of the biggest challenges the humankind have ever faced. In the food industry, a changing interest and buying behavior is seen, existing environmental choice and purchase of organic and local products. Based on previous studies it has been shown that there is confusion about the eco-labeled products where the problem lies in that there is a lack of communication between local food producers and consumers.What aspects can be crucial for the local food companies in green marketing that can increase consumer awareness of local food?The purpose of the study is to explore and describe how green marketingcan increase consumer awareness of local food.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Local food systems are growing in scope and impact in communities around the world in an attempt to solve many of the environmental, social, and economic costs of global food production and conventional food chains. Communities may attain greater sustainability by reconfiguring their relationship to agriculture and food but critics of local food systems doubt its ability to fundamentally change the predominant global agricultural system due in part to the limited transformative range. Furthermore, local food systems are often viewed in reference to “food miles”, a concept that is oversimplified and ignores the complexity of food supply chains. This paper is motivated by these larger debates about local food systems and addresses a local food system in Portland, Oregon. The research for this paper is based on interviews conducted in the restaurant and farming sectors in the Portland area in an effort to learn what motivates restaurants and farms to engage in local partnerships, the challenges and opportunities they face selling and buying local food, and the practices along their food supply chains. The objective of this study is to understand the degree to which restaurant farm partnerships in Portland are supporting a sustainable local food system and to help identify strategies and opportunities for more restaurants and farms to engage in local partnerships. Furthermore, this research provides pragmatic examples for other communities interested in stimulating a local food system based on direct marketing. The findings of this study suggest Portland’s restaurant farm partnerships are making a small, yet significant effort to encourage innovative environmental and social practices, address the sustainability of urban and rural Portland, and deepen the food miles debate. Further efforts need to be made by the restaurant farm partnerships in Portland to expand on restaurant’s sustainable practices, find more innovative transportation means, and improve consumer education.