Local is an ambiguous term and can mean different things to different people. When asked what local meant to them, our participants gave a variety of answers.

Unsurprisingly, many participants' definition of local centered around proximity, although the distance varied. Some simply said that the closer something was, the more local it was, and that if they had a choice at a grocery store, they would simply buy whichever item was grown closer, even if it was out of state (C5, C11). Several said that buying food from within their own state (in this case California), was what shopping locally meant to them (C6,C7,C8). C10's definition changed throughout the course of the interview, first saying “over 100 miles thats not local anymore,” and then later “I would probably say [local food is] within the state that you're living in.” C9 defined local in less precise way, saying simply that if a customer could “go to the farm,” than it was local.

To some local wasn't so much about proximity as it was about knowing the people who grew the food. C4 said that even though a certain farm she bought from was “hours away in the truck,” she knew and loved the farmers and thus felt good supporting them.