• Food produced within X miles of its purchase and/or consumption (e.g. 100-mile diet)
• Food purchased and/or consumed within the county, state, or region of its production
  
• Food produced under the control of the area community, does not simply take place there
• See the Real Food Challenge
• Used as shorthand for other qualities (e.g. grown without chemicals, grown on a small family farm, taste, freshness, supporting the 'local' economy)
• In "Use of Local Markets by Organic Producers," C. Dimitri treats the sometimes synonymous use of local and organic: "The organic label addresses how food is produced, processed and distributed while the local label provides information about the distance between production and point of sale. An active discussion about the differences between 'local' and 'organic' has emerged in the media and popular literature, with some suggesting that locally grown food trumps organically produced food, and others debating the converse. Despite this popular line of discussion, many long-time participants in the organic market perceive organic and local agriculture as 'two sides of the same coin' (Lipson 2008)."

As observed in the CURA 2013 food narrative, "It is important to note that local is defined in context: there is not one agreed-upon definition. In some efforts and to some people, it may encompass food that is produced, processed, and consumed within a city or county, while in another effort, local may include food systems contained within a multi-state region. In addition, the goal may not be complete independence from non-local systems. As David Syring says, 'Current interest in local food, and calls for public support for local food, emerge as means of democratizing the playing field for food production. The idea is not to replace all industrial-scale food production, but to enhance the range of options for policies that support diverse approaches to food production.' (2012, p. 12)"

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