Abstract
Food and drink are essential parts of everyday life, so it is important to recognise how our relationship with them has a major affect directly, personally and continually on our wellbeing (Whatmore, 2002) and the world around us through environmental, social and economic impacts. This has led to calls to encourage the development of sustainable food systems that ensure food is sustainably produced, food waste reduced, and the effects of an increasing population on the planet minimised (Defra, 2013; Lorenz & Veenhoff, 2013; Lubin & Esty, 2010). Increasing concerns around the environment, food security (Van Passel, 2013) and diet-related health have resulted in greater emphasis on developing sustainable food and drink systems which balance economic, social and environmental goals through supporting local and regional economies, delivering social benefits, and protecting an increasingly fragile environment (Marsden & Morley, 2014). Defined as “a method of food production and distribution that is geographically localized, rather than national and/or international” (Grace Communications Foundation, 2016), ‘local food systems’ along with locally sourced, locally produced, and organic food networks (e.g. Donald, 2008) have received interest as potential models of sustainable consumption (Watts et al., 2005).