Producing but Not Consuming? Food Provisioning in Remote, Rural Areas of the UK☆

Abstract

This is one of the first studies of food provisioning in remote rural areas of Scotland and England, providing evidence of precarity in food access at the same time as agricultural products are exported from the region to the global food system. We interviewed residents of four remote and rural areas of the UK about their food shopping habits and their purchase of local foods. Using theoretical resources from social science literature on food shopping, alternative food networks, and resilience to identify the influence of daily routine on rural food shopping practices, the importance of local retailers, the limited availability of locally produced foods, and the distinct nature of remote and rural households' food and shopping practices. Our findings illustrate the greater fragility of these rural food systems, the challenges faced by residents of these communities who can be unusually dependent on long and sometimes unreliable supermarket supply chains for the bulk of their food purchases, and the ‘buffering’ practices that they adopt to guard against possible food shortages. We argue that these practices can be considered as a form of care for both individuals and communities, but that, on their own, they cannot fully address this fragility. Initiatives to support shorter supply chains could improve the resilience of rural food systems but would require investment in infrastructure such as abattoirs, market spaces, and polytunnels in order to increase production, meet existing demand for locally produced food, and keep that food within these areas for local consumers.