The Grocery Cart | The local: good for farmers, less for us?

It seems like Canadians just want to do farmers and agrifood companies a favor when they shop. This is one of the fundamental problems of buying local. Consumers clearly fail to see how local food can directly benefit them personally.

All people want to buy local, but few do. Of course, local foods have been the focus of many food sovereignty and self-reliance discussions for decades. Most of the surveys revealed that although consumers want to buy local products, most of the time very few buy or seek out local food products when shopping or eating out. Our lab, in partnership with Angus Reid, released the results of a survey on the perception of local food across the country.

The survey generated interesting results overall. We first asked Canadians if local food at the grocery store was a priority. Not surprisingly, most Canadians believe local food is important to them. Quebec has the highest level of support, while the lowest level of support is found in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Questions related to catering and restaurants generated very similar results. In terms of meal management, we asked respondents what priority was given to local foods in a given week. The data shows that British Columbians and Quebecers manage their meals while considering local food products. A total of 17% of respondents in these two provinces will prioritize local foods for most of their meals each week. Participants from the Atlantic region seem to be interested in local foods, but the frequency is not as high. The results suggest that women are slightly more inclined to consider the importance of the local product than men, but the percentage difference remains below 5%. Education and income were also not important determinants.

At the grocery store, in general, the importance placed on local foods varies slightly between age groups. Older consumers seem to consider local foods important to them. While 45% of consumers aged 55 and over consider local food at the grocery store to be important, 37% of consumers aged 18 to 34 share the same opinion. In the restaurant, all age groups share the same feeling. Local foods are considered important by 36% to 37% of people, depending on age group. The differences were not significant.

The fact that the demographic determinants do not turn out to be significant is surprising. But it’s clear that Quebec and British Columbia have had a lot of discussions about where the food systems come from, and it shows in the data.

We asked Canadians why they choose a local product. Generally, Canadians who buy local products do so primarily to support the economy and farmers. Canadians are motivated to buy local food for a variety of reasons, but we asked them to choose just one of many.

The most important underlying reason for buying local products is to support farmers, followed by the desire to encourage the local economy. In all regions, supporting environmental sustainability is the third choice of participants. However, very few believe that local foods are of better quality or more nutritious, more affordable or even safer.

In other words, the image of local food products must be reworked. It seems like Canadians just want to do farmers and agrifood companies a favor when they shop. Canadians fail to see how local food can directly benefit them personally. This is one of the fundamental problems of buying local.

Very few Canadians believe that local foods are better products. When it comes to affordability, only 5% of Canadians believe local food sells for less. According to a recent study, local foods are not always more expensive.