Exploring Locavores' Perceptions of Place and Mobility

As conscious consumerism rises in popularity in wealthy, capitalist nations like the United States, scholars have lamented the lack of similarly widespread support for other, potentially more effective forms of activism. They have discussed various factors contributing to the discrepancy, often focusing on the relative convenience of conscious consumerism, or the notion that such hyper-individualized behaviors are well-aligned with the ideological underpinnings of global capitalism. In conversation with these analyses, this exploratory study investigated the possibility that evolving spatial perceptions may also render conscious consumerism more attractive to people whose current or desired lifestyles have become increasingly mobile and urban, as modern structural realities compel people toward such lifestyles, and as these lifestyles become increasingly "glamorized" in popular culture. This goal was approached using semi-structured, in-depth interviews that explored perceptions of spatial scales and mobility among a group of ten Chicagoans who reported an interest in “locavorism,” or the conscious consumerist practice of eating locally-sourced foods. The results of these initial interviews revealed that some urban locavores were (a) reluctant to symbolically associate themselves with people or behaviors that seemed less mobile or urban, for sociocultural reasons, and/or (b) unable to engage in more eco-conscious lifestyles that might encourage more "rootedness" or smaller-scale spatial engagement, due to structural realities that compelled them to be more mobile and urban.