Quantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021
Abstract Background Interest in local food has been growing, driven by increased attention from consumers, supporting policies, and interest in offering supply by local producers. Nonetheless, a definition of “local food” remains elusive, varying with purposes, geographies, and perceptions. This stu...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Agriculture & Food Security |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-022-00397-y |
| _version_ | 1811196633580306432 |
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| author | Jinho Jung Jingjing Tao Nicole Olynk Widmar |
| author_facet | Jinho Jung Jingjing Tao Nicole Olynk Widmar |
| author_sort | Jinho Jung |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Interest in local food has been growing, driven by increased attention from consumers, supporting policies, and interest in offering supply by local producers. Nonetheless, a definition of “local food” remains elusive, varying with purposes, geographies, and perceptions. This study quantifies online media mentioning local food in 2018–2021 using online and social media listening and analytics. In addition, a sub-search devoted to local food security and access was conducted due to a high proportion of mentions devoted to food security in the initial search. Variations in mentions and net sentiment quantified for individual US states are also presented. Results The local food pantry sub-search arose after finding a large share of the general local food media was referencing local food access rather than production or other topics. The interest in local food access was more apparent during crises periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, during which even a larger portion of mentions are devoted to the local food pantry sub-search topic. Mentions quantified from the sub-search are mostly expressing concerns about worsened food insecurity during the pandemic and encouraging others to do things like donate food to local pantries. Conclusions Online and social media can play an important role towards active communication in local communities on topics, such as food availability and access. In addition, online media can facilitate more efficient emergency management. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T01:02:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6909744b429a49ebb5d876d77ae8ed66 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2048-7010 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T01:02:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture & Food Security |
| spelling | doaj.art-6909744b429a49ebb5d876d77ae8ed662022-12-22T03:54:25ZengBMCAgriculture & Food Security2048-70102022-12-0111111310.1186/s40066-022-00397-yQuantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021Jinho Jung0Jingjing Tao1Nicole Olynk Widmar2Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue UniversityDepartment of Agricultural Economics, Purdue UniversityDepartment of Agricultural Economics, Purdue UniversityAbstract Background Interest in local food has been growing, driven by increased attention from consumers, supporting policies, and interest in offering supply by local producers. Nonetheless, a definition of “local food” remains elusive, varying with purposes, geographies, and perceptions. This study quantifies online media mentioning local food in 2018–2021 using online and social media listening and analytics. In addition, a sub-search devoted to local food security and access was conducted due to a high proportion of mentions devoted to food security in the initial search. Variations in mentions and net sentiment quantified for individual US states are also presented. Results The local food pantry sub-search arose after finding a large share of the general local food media was referencing local food access rather than production or other topics. The interest in local food access was more apparent during crises periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, during which even a larger portion of mentions are devoted to the local food pantry sub-search topic. Mentions quantified from the sub-search are mostly expressing concerns about worsened food insecurity during the pandemic and encouraging others to do things like donate food to local pantries. Conclusions Online and social media can play an important role towards active communication in local communities on topics, such as food availability and access. In addition, online media can facilitate more efficient emergency management.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-022-00397-yFood securityLocal foodPublic perceptionsSocial media data |
| spellingShingle | Jinho Jung Jingjing Tao Nicole Olynk Widmar Quantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021 Agriculture & Food Security Food security Local food Public perceptions Social media data |
| title | Quantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021 |
| title_full | Quantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021 |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021 |
| title_short | Quantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021 |
| title_sort | quantifying local food online and social media in the united states for 2018 2021 |
| topic | Food security Local food Public perceptions Social media data |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-022-00397-y |
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