Second‐home owners as consumers of local food

Abstract

AbstractMarginal rural localities tend to gain less from local food production because they cannot generate enough demand for it. In the Nordic countries, however, seasonal populations outnumber permanent residents in many places, thereby temporarily increasing the demand for goods and services. Relatively little empirical research has been conducted on second‐home owners’ consumption of local food. This study examines their demand for it and analyses factors related to their purchase behaviour. Based on survey material derived from Finland, the article shows that the availability and accessibility of local food, as well as the activities of second‐home owners shape their consumption patterns. The study highlights the importance of second‐home owners’ place attachment and cultural understandings of second‐home lifestyles as factors related to their interest towards local food. However, from the perspective of marginal rural areas, the findings are not encouraging and local food is less likely to be consumed in the sparsely populated countryside than in those areas where local products are more readily accessible.