Unlike organic food, there is no legal or universally accepted definition
of local food. In part, it is a geographical concept related to the distance
between food producers and consumers. In addition to geographic proximity
of producer and consumer, however, local food can also be defined in terms
of social and supply chain characteristics. In this section, we first describe
local foods as a geographic concept. Then, we examine other features
that have been used to define “local” foods. Finally, we briefly describe a
typology of local food markets, which adds a more tangible perspective to
the local foods concept.