The Jazziness of Local Food Practice Work: Organization‐Level Ingenuity and the Entrepreneurial Formation and Evolution of Local Food Systems

Abstract

Local food systems (LFSs) are complex and diverse social structures. The processes that influence the formation and evolution of LFSs are obscure, relatively uncoordinated, and somewhat mysterious. This study develops a stronger understanding of such processes through a qualitative exploration of the influence of routine practice work at the organization level on the entrepreneurial development of two distinct LFSs in the Southwest region of the United States: southeastern Arizona and Albuquerque−Santa Fe. We gathered data between August 2014 and September 2017 through semistructured interviews with and direct observations of 53 local food practitioners operating in one of the two LFSs. Theoretical principles of institutional entrepreneurship, embedded agency, and practice work guided the study. The findings reveal three forms of ingenuity (technological, organizational, policy) that regularly emerge through the day‐to‐day organization‐level work of local food practitioners. We argue that the system‐level influence of these forms, whether intentional or not, are indicators of the embedded agency of the practitioners and their capacities to serve as institutional entrepreneurs. We discuss implications for both practice and future research.

Narrative curation and stewardship in contested marketspaces

“…The expansion and diversification of local food systems occur with relatively little coordination and considerable latitude in the interpretation of what constitutes legitimate practices (Mount, 2012 ; Trivette, 2015 ). The determination of how products and processes are recognized and legitimized as ‘local’ is left largely to the consumers, entrepreneurs, and marketers who compose and sustain local food systems (Mars & Schau, 2019 ). Without a technical, formal definition of local or concrete guidelines for what is and is not considered local, the concept of local food is open to widespread interpretation (Feagan, 2007 ) and use of value narratives that comprise the local food movement.…”

“…Consistent with previous research on social movement fragmentation (Fligstein & McAdam, 2012 ; McAdam, 2003 ; Soule & King, 2008 ; Weijo et al, 2018 ; Zald & McCarthy, 1980 ), the co-existence, convergence, and contestation of motives, activities, and strategies make the local food movement both ambiguous and heterogeneous (Mars & Schau, 2017 ). Such ambiguity and heterogeneity, in tandem with loose governance, leaves the meaning of local food open for various interpretations and vulnerable to appropriation (Kurland & McCaffrey, 2016 ; Mars & Schau, 2019 ; Mount, 2012 ). Accordingly, the strategic importance of clear, consistent value narratives that convey the specific local food movement amalgam within and across market settings is further heightened.…”

The paradox of being a food artisan entrepreneur: responding to conflicting institutional logics

“…Ecoentrepreneurship represents such a blending of activist logic and market logics. The practical work of different institutional entrepreneurs in local food systems and their various technological, organizational and policy innovations influence the system as a whole; organization-level ingenuity in local food systems is oriented towards cooperation and collaboration rather than conflict and competition (Mars and Schau, 2019).…”

“…In the two studied cases, the risks related to investing in and running production facilities such as farms to supply meat or milk are spread among multiple entrepreneurs. It is recognized that collaboration in networks is considered a more viable and sustainable path (Street and Cameron, 2007;Mars and Schau, 2019) by these entrepreneurs than growing through investing in land and animals. For example, the cheese business started out with three families cooperating to produce cheese based on the amount of milk that each family farm could deliver.…”

Pivoting is exhausting: A critical analysis of local food system resilience

“…The sociality of local food – the fact that a good deal of market transactions are fostered through social relations, networks, and collaborative partnerships – was seen as a boon in the face of COVID-19-related upheavals as actors were able to work together to improvise in “jazzy” ways (c.f. Mars and Schau, 2019 ) and made these local systems more resilient ( O'Connell et al, 2021 ; Schreiber et al, 2022 ). The short, decentralized, and diverse chains that comprise local food, along with the higher levels of social embeddedness, demonstrated that local food systems are adept at resiliency – or bouncing back from and adapting to external shocks to the system (see Tendall et al, 2015 ).…”