Local production of fruits and vegetables: the need for a revised definition?

Among the characteristics that contribute to define consumers food preferences, localness has a prominent role both in terms of attractiveness for consumption and in terms of sustainability of the food supply chain. Notwithstanding this relevance, a clear and shared concept of what can be considered as local production is still object of debate and the current most shared definition, based on the literature, is a mixture of distance and sustainability concerns. This contribution is aimed at providing some evidence about the effectiveness of this definition under the assumption that its refinement may play a crucial role in supporting the exploitation of localness' potential both from the policy and from the market sides. Whit this aim, a questionnaire was administered to almost 1200 consumers recruited in street markets and MMR (Mass Market Retailers) during one year in order to get some information about what people know about local production of fruits and vegetables and what are the actual motivations that drive them in purchasing local food. By applying a mixed methodology, typologies of consumers have been created on the basis of their levels of theoretical and practical awareness about local production. It clearly results that the current definition lacks of effectiveness, as consumers show an almost perfect Independence between their knowledge and their actions. A claim for a more exhaustive and practical definition of local production should be made.