The Environmental Priorities and Practices of Local Food Producers: Environmental priorities that local farmers hold, practices they use, and barriers they face to using more environmentally aligned practices

Abstract

Sustainability has become a worldwide priority as globalisation and climate change proceed. Yet the current global food system is responsible for a large portion of unsustainability. It has been well established that the current global food system negatively impacts the environment, is wasteful, unequal, and vulnerable to unforeseen future changes. It has been claimed that all of these complications and consequences from the global food system could be addressed by downscaling to the local level. Local food producers hold a direct influence on the environment through the practices they choose, so it is important to understand their environmental priorities, practices, and any constraints they may be facing to using more environmentally aligned practices. This study uses surveys to question local food producers about each of these (n=23). Participating local food producers most frequently held soil health as their highest environmental priority, and practices used were found to be strongly correlated with their environmental priorities (R2=0.800). Frequently favoured practices achieved work on the farm while still holding the environment in mind, and few practices cared for the environment without farm benefits. Constraints to using more environmentally aligned practices tended to be related to cost, availability, time, and a lack of control on external factors. Implications of this research show there is potential to influence producers’ practices. As local food producers’ practices and priorities are strongly correlated, then perhaps the correlation can be used as leverage to sway farming practices.