[edit] Defining a Movement

During the early 20th century, the demise of the family farm and the growth ofwas experienced through much of the United States. In the late 60's and early 70's with the growth of the movement there were increasing numbers of small farms selling a variety of products to local communities. Since the 70's the increase of multi-national food companies has increased the size of not only farms but the overall food system. During this same time period, a slow and steady movement of farmers and consumers building relationships and changing purchasing habits occurred and is still occurring.
The concept is often related to the slogan "Think globally, act locally'', common in . Those supporting development of a local food economy consider that since food is needed by everyone, everywhere, every day, a small change in the way it is produced and marketed will have a great effect on health, the ecosystem and preservation of cultural diversity. They say shopping decisions favoring local food consumption directly affect the of people, improve local economies and may be more ecologically more.
Pioneering and influential work in the area of local economies was done by noted economist In general, local food is in opposition to the ideas of globaland . Critics argue that by convincing consumers in not to buy food produced in the , the local food movement damages the economy of third world nations, which often rely heavily on food exports and cash crops. Local food networks include community gardens, food co-ops, Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA), farmers' markets, and seed savers groups. The principle distinction between these systems and other agrifood systems is the spatial dimension. Local food networks have been described as "community-based agriculture" (e.g. Pimbert, et al., 2001), "direct agricultural markets" (Hinrichs, 2000), and "localist agriculture" (Hines, et al., 2000). The terms "network" and "system" are sometimes used interchangeably, but there appears to be a preference for "network". Critics also say that local food tends to be more expensive to the consumer than food bought without regard to provenance and could never provide the variety currently available (such as having summer vegetables available in winter, or having kinds of food available which can not be locally produced due to soil, climate or labor conditions).
However, proponents indicate that the lower price of commodified food (which is sometimes called cheap food) is often due to a variety of governmental subsidies, including direct ones such as price supports, direct payments or tax breaks, and indirect ones such as subsidies for trucking via road infrastructure investment, and often does not take into account the true cost of the product. They further indicate that buying local food does not necessarily mean giving up all food coming from distant ecoregions, but rather favoring local foods when available.