Consumer Preferences in Local Food Systems
Summary
Understanding consumer preferences in local food systems requires an exploration of the motivations, behaviours and perceptions that drive choices in purchasing locally produced goods. Consumers increasingly value attributes such as freshness, traceability, environmental impact and community support. Health and sustainability concerns often underpin decisions, with many perceiving locally sourced produce as more nutritious and ethically produced than mass-market alternatives. Social dimensions, including a sense of solidarity with producers and reinforcement of regional identity, also play a central role. Economic factors—price premiums, willingness to pay and the accessibility of local markets—intersect with psychological drivers such as trust in farmers, place attachment and food citizenship. The result is a complex mosaic of intrinsic product attributes (taste, quality) and extrinsic attributes (origin, certification, community benefit) that shape consumer engagement. Recent work has sought to quantify these trade-offs, map demographic influences and evaluate the resilience of local food habits beyond crisis contexts, highlighting the global relevance of these insights for producers, policymakers and supply-chain stakeholders.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Consumer Preferences in Local Food Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in consumer preferences in local food systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Short food supply chain (SFSC): A distribution system with minimal intermediaries, connecting producers directly to consumers.
Willingness to pay (WTP): The maximum premium consumers are prepared to pay for specific product attributes.
Food citizenship: Active participation in food choices that promote democratic, equitable and sustainable systems.
Place identity: The emotional and symbolic connection individuals feel toward a particular geographic region.
Prosocial behaviour: Actions motivated by concern for the well-being of others within a community or society.
References
- Meta‐Analysis of Consumer Willingness to Pay for Short Food Supply Chain Products. Global Challenges (2025).
- Psychosocial drivers influencing local food purchasing: beyond availability, the importance of trust in farmers. Frontiers in Nutrition (2023).
- Exploring the nexus of food citizenship and local food consumption in America's rural-urban blend: Insights from Will County (Illinois). Journal of Rural Studies (2024).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.