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Should You Buy Local?

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  • Carson Young

    (SUNY Brockport)

Abstract

Buying local is a prominent form of ethical consumption. We commonly assume that products that are local are in some respect ethically superior to ones that are not. This article contributes to research on local food by scrutinizing this assumption in light of some central values of the locavore movement. It identifies four central ethical causes from prior literature on locavorism: protecting the environment, promoting community, promoting small business, and contributing to the prosperity of one’s local economy. It then analyzes whether the contribution of buying local to these causes can justify the general perception that buying local is a good way to be an ethical consumer. Its main finding is that these justifications fail to provide a strong positive ethical reason for consumers in general to adopt the practice of buying local.

Suggested Citation

  • Carson Young, 2022. "Should You Buy Local?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 265-281, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:176:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-020-04701-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-020-04701-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gorton, Matthew & Yeh, Ching-Hua & Chatzopoulou, Elena & White, John & Tocco, Barbara & Hubbard, Carmen & Hallam, Fiona, 2023. "Consumers' willingness to pay for an animal welfare food label," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    2. Roland Z. Szabó & Borbála Szedmák & Anna Tajti & Péter Bera, 2023. "Environmental Sustainability, Digitalisation, and the Entrepreneurial Perception of Distances as Drivers of SMEs’ Internationalisation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Huan Cai & Catherine Xu & Weiyu Xu, 2023. "To AI or not to AI, to Buy Local or not to Buy Local: A Mathematical Theory of Real Price," Papers 2305.05134, arXiv.org.

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