Connecting local food to global consumers via the Internet

This chapter focuses on how local food products can help to market rural places on the Internet. It deals with two seemingly unconnected contemporary consumer trends: the increasing consumer demand for authentic qualities in food products (Amilien, 2005), and the escalation of consumer activities on the Internet (Castells, 2001; Kozinets, 1999; Anon, 2005). It will be argued here that, from a marketing perspective, these trends should be considered together and that, if strategically interlinked, they offer interesting opportunities for the promotion of rural areas, products and communities.