Local Food Systems and Networks in the US and the UK

This chapter examines growing community and policy interest in local food systems and networks, focusing on the implications for rural places in the UK and the US. In the twenty-first century, food production and consumption have become topics of public debate and private anxiety, prompting increased attention from the media, researchers and policymakers. ¹ Intensified patterns of industrialisation, specialization and concentration in agriculture (Lyson 2004) and the mounting pressures of global neo-liberalization (Buttel 2004) have engendered concerns about the environmental impacts, economic inequalities, health risks and cultural homogenisation served up by the modern food system, alongside its featured offerings—efficiency and productivity. As most food in developed countries continues to be produced in rural areas (despite growing interest in the possibilities of urban agriculture), this heightened concern for food and the resultant drive for social and economic change in the food system have implications for rural people, places and policies.