Quantifying “local food” online and social media in the United States for 2018–2021

Abstract

Background Interest in local food has been growing, driven by increased attention from consumers, supporting policies, and interest in offering supply by local producers. Nonetheless, a definition of “local food” remains elusive, varying with purposes, geographies, and perceptions. This study quantifies online media mentioning local food in 2018–2021 using online and social media listening and analytics. In addition, a sub-search devoted to local food security and access was conducted due to a high proportion of mentions devoted to food security in the initial search. Variations in mentions and net sentiment quantified for individual US states are also presented. Results The local food pantry sub-search arose after finding a large share of the general local food media was referencing local food access rather than production or other topics. The interest in local food access was more apparent during crises periods, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, during which even a larger portion of mentions are devoted to the local food pantry sub-search topic. Mentions quantified from the sub-search are mostly expressing concerns about worsened food insecurity during the pandemic and encouraging others to do things like donate food to local pantries. Conclusions Online and social media can play an important role towards active communication in local communities on topics, such as food availability and access. In addition, online media can facilitate more efficient emergency management.

Using Natural Language Processing to Explore Social Media Opinions on Food Security: Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling Study

“…Although this study examined food security more broadly, sentiment analysis has also been used to investigate specific areas of food security. For example, a study assessing the sentiment of web-based conversations specifically related to local food and food banks found that the net sentiment was negative [82]. In contrast, the Twitter posts in this study classified in topics related to food banks were largely positive.…”

“…In contrast, the Twitter posts in this study classified in topics related to food banks were largely positive. This is likely due to the type of discussion in the study by Jung et al [82] being dominated by negative words such as "struggle," "difficult," and "desperate," whereas this study discussed more positive aspects, such as donations, support of food banks, and having access to these services. In addition, Scott et al [83] examined the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the United States.…”

E-grocery service loyalty: integrating food quality, e-grocery quality and relationship quality (young customers’ experience with local food)

“…Thus, providing a quality e-grocery service is vital for e-grocery businesses. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, to prevent the spread of disease, online services became important systems to limit the physical interaction between food customers and retailers (Jung et al, 2022). Past studies in e-commerce reveal that if customers perceive that the e-service is reliable and trustworthy, their perception of the e-service will be stronger, subsequently influencing their preference and intention to repeat the experience (Lopez et al, 2018;Soni and Vohra, 2022):…”

“…Recent research in e-commerce shows that e-grocery is a popular method for purchasing groceries. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this purchasing medium became a preferred method for purchasing groceries as it posed a lower health risk compared to visiting retailers (Fetriyuna, 2022; Jung et al , 2022; Zhang et al , 2022). As a consequence, the e-grocery business has attracted many business players causing intense competition (Cappelli et al , 2022; Ferguson and Thompson, 2021).…”