Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The study set out with two main research objectives. First, with a view to generating empirical information useful to both policy actions and academic debates on localised food systems, it sought to investigate consumers' priorities when choosing food, their perceptions of farming and food provisioning issues, and their level of interest in local foods. Second, with a view to addressing the theoretical propositions regarding the existence of concerned consumers, it sought to examine the extent to which there are links apparent between these priorities, perceptions and interest levels. The study was developed in two phases, qualitative and quantitative (only the quantitative data are currently held at the UK Data Archive). The qualitative phase was designed to reveal and explore consumers’ perceptions relating to food and farming, and to assess the existence of links between them. The quantitative phase was designed to extend the investigation across a wider population, and to test statistically the strength of the links between consumers’ priorities, perceptions and interests. The geographic area chosen for both parts of the study was the north of England, with data collection taking place from November 2001 to February 2002. The study was executed therefore not long after the height of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in the UK, in some of the geographic areas most severely affected by the episode. Although the sampling procedures of both parts of the study were designed to incorporate a wide spectrum of consumers in terms of age, gender and socio-economic class, a key criterion for examination was respondents' urban/rural residency. The proposal under scrutiny was that consumers living in rural areas - being in closer proximity to sources of food production - have higher awareness of wider food system issues than their urban counterparts, and also a higher propensity to buy local.

Main Topics:

Topics covered include attitudes towards farming, environmental conservation, agricultural subsidy, agricultural research, animal welfare, food safety and food production, locally-produced food and shopping habits. Demographic data such as household income, age, economic activity and gender were also collected.

Simple random sample

Face-to-face interview