Scale and affect in the local food movement

Growing demand for local food has spurred the emergence of aggregation and distribution businesses, called food hubs. They developed to retain the values of the local food movement, help small farmers achieve economies of scale, and supply large markets. While appearing as an innovative solution to several key constraints of local food systems, there is debate on how these businesses should function and whether the insertion of a middleman breaks down the basic premise of local food, namely the focus on face-to-face transaction. This paper highlights the affective nature of local food purchases, examining ethnographically how one particular food hub with close ties to the local food movement in Atlanta, Georgia contends with this issue as it articulates with larger markets. It finds that building a resilient and sustainable local food system beyond the level of direct markets necessitates illuminating the role affect plays in economic decision-making.