Local food movements encompass various criteria for defining “local food,” making it challenging to ascertain the exact meaning considered during actual purchases. This study aims to clarify how spatial proximity influences local food purchasing behavior, making it distinct from other interpretations of local food. To achieve this, we conducted qualitative research involving interviews with five residents of Kyoto about their local vegetable purchases. We analyzed the meanings and purchasing behaviors resulting from the inference that the product’s area matched their residence. Our findings identified two interpretations of product area information based on spatial proximity: one from their residential area and the other from the area around the retailer. Both interpretations led to positive purchasing patterns (consisting of meaning and object), although those based on local specificity often resulted in a luxury image and reluctance to purchase. These findings suggest that local food purchasing patterns are multi-layered and depend on the contextualized meaning of “local.” Spatial proximity exerts a more positive influence on local food purchases than local branded varieties, especially concerning daily grocery purchases for home cooking. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of consumer behavior toward local food and offers practical insights into the relationship between locality and proximity.
The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of collaboration and to shed light on the real state of cooperation between large farms and new entrants to organic farming. We conducted a case study on a large organic farm that collaborates with several neighboring farms as well as a new entrant in organic farming that had been collaborating with a large farm in Tsukuba for several years. To collect shared data, we conducted an interview survey with farm managers. Large organic farms buy organic vegetables from new entrants and sell them through their own distribution channels, which is beneficial for large farms as it can ensure sufficient supply to maintain ongoing relationship with buyers. This collaboration is also beneficial for new entrants as they can achieve consistent sales without the hassle of finding buyers, allowing them to focus on acquiring expertise in cultivation and business management.
The FAO believes that it is important to preserve traditional farming practices through dynamic conservation. To promote dynamic conservation, it is necessary to identify trends of changes in traditional agriculture. This study aims to clarify the relationship between changes in socioeconomic and traditional farming, using as a case study the “Nishi-Awa Steep Slope Land Agriculture System,” which was recognized as a GIAHS site in 2018. Interviews with the three farmers revealed that farming changed with the farming environment and types of agricultural management. Farmers have maintained traditional farming practices because they are the most appropriate for their cultivation environment and farming management styles, not because they value or have attempted to preserve them.
This study aims to determine whether non-economic factors impact villagers’ attitudes toward Customary Farmland Reallocation (CFR). Based on data collected from Village X in Shandong Province, based on the binary logistic regression analysis, this study concludes that: 1) household size is correlated to villagers’ attitudes towards CFR. 2) the distrust of village cadres is correlated to villagers’ attitudes towards CFR. This study suggests that non-economic factors like the distrust of village cadres need to be considered, as well as economic factors when considering CFR.