Review Individual consumer food localism: A review anchored in Canadian farmwomen’s reflections Lynn McIntyre * , Krista Rondeau Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4Z6 Keywords: Local food Self-provisioning Food provisioning Farmwomen Canada abstract Local food movements have emerged in many parts of Canada to support local farmers, sustain the regional food supply, encourage the consumption of healthier foods, and address environmental concerns associated with conventional agriculture. The implementation of food localism to date, however, has remained primarily the responsibility of consumers. This paper seeks to examine the practical realities of individual consumer localism in order to understand how food localism operates at the household level. Local food scholarship and empirical data from a recent study of Canadian farm- women’s food provisioning practices are used to assess the feasibility and implications of buy local and eat local messages for consumers. In particular, physical access to local food markets, financial constraints to buying local and food self-provisioning, and (gendered) labor requirements are examined in detail. Findings suggest that encouragement by local food advocates to ‘buy local’ and ‘grow food’ are not simple transactions for households; rather, such practices must be considered within the broader food provi- sioning context and the structural constraints therein. Although well-intentioned, these urgings dele- gitimize real constraints that exist for many individuals and households, in particular those outside of well-serviced urban areas, those who are food insecure, and those without the necessary resources (time, labor, skill, and expertise) to engage in local food provisioning. The ability of consumers to engage in individual localism will be limited as long as the broader context in which food provisioning activities are undertaken is ignored. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Locally-based food movements have emerged in North Amer- ica and Europe in response to the perceived failings and injustices of the global industrial food system on economic, environmental, health, and social indicators of equity (Allen et al., 2003; Allen and Hinrichs, 2007; Anderson, 2008; Blouin et al., 2009; Blue, 2009; DeLind, 2002; DuPuis and Goodman, 2005; Feenstra, 1997; Hinrichs, 2000, 2003; Hinrichs and Lyson, 2007; Johnston, 2008; Kloppenburg et al., 1996; Martinez et al., 2010; Mendes, 2008; Power, 1999; Smithers et al., 2008; Winter, 2003). In this paper, we use the term local to refer to foods produced within an area defined as proximal by the consumer (Chinnakonda and Telford, 2007), and preferably acquired under specific market arrange- ments that aim to establish a direct link between producers and consumers (Blouin et al., 2009; Martinez et al., 2010). 1 Thus, local food systems attempt to “explicitly [link] wider social, economic and environmental concerns with locality” (Blouin et al., 2009, p. 9), moving beyond geographic, temporal, and social distance (see also Smithers et al., 2008). Across Canada, food policy councils in major cities such as Vancouver and Toronto have played important coordinating and advocacy roles in bringing food and food access issues “into plain sight” (Mendes, 2008, p. 947) of municipal governments and their citizens (Johnston and Baker, 2005). The implementation of food localism to date, however, has remained primarily the responsi- bility of consumers (Allen, 1999; Allen and Hinrichs, 2007; Blue, 2009; DeLind, 2002; Guthman, 2008; Hinrichs and Allen, 2008; Johnston, 2008; Johnston and Baumann, 2010; Lavin, 2009). Consumers are being urged to support local farmers, sustain the regional food supply, and consume a healthier diet through the * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 403 220 8664; fax: þ1 403 270 7307. E-mail address: lmcintyr@ucalgary.ca (L. McIntyre). 1 Local food movements have been discussed within the context of post-industrial food systems, civic agriculture, sustainable food systems, community food security, food sovereignty, post-productivism, and others. A full discussion of these alternative food systems and concepts is beyond the scope of this paper; however, further information on these topics can be found in Allen (1999, 2004); Allen et al. (2003); Blue (2009); DeLind (2002); Hinrichs (2003); Hinrichs and Lyson (2007); Johnston (2008); Smithers et al. (2008). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Rural Studies journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jrurstud 0743-0167/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2011.01.002 Journal of Rural Studies xxx (2011) 1e9 Please cite this article in press as: McIntyre, L., Rondeau, K., Individual consumer food localism: A review anchored in Canadian farmwomen’s reflections, Journal of Rural Studies (2011), doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2011.01.002