We extend prior research on “ethical” food consumption by examining how motivations can vary across demographic groups and across kinds of ethical foods simultaneously. Based on a survey of food shoppers in Toronto, we find that parents with children under the age of 5 are most likely to report intention to purchase organic foods and to be primarily motivated by health and taste concerns. In contrast, intention to purchase local food is motivated by collectivist concerns – the environment and supporting the local economy – and is associated with educated, white consumers. In addition to highlighting this distinction in motivations for organic vs. local food consumption, we also argue that the predominant “individualist” vs. “collectivist” framing in the scholarly literature should be reformulated to accommodate an intermediate motivation. Organic food consumption is often motivated by a desire to consume for others (children) in ways that are neither straightforwardly individualist nor collectivist, but rather exemplifies a caring motivation that is intermediate between the two.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Baumann, S., Engman, A., Huddart-Kennedy, E., Johnston, J., (2025), "Organic vs. Local: Comparing individualist and collectivist motivations for “ethical” food consumption", HSSCommons: (DOI: 10.15353/cfs-rcea.v4i1.191)

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1. caring consumption
2. consumer motivations
3. ethical consumption
4. local food
5. organic food

Original publication: Baumann, Shyon; Engman, Athena; Huddart-Kennedy, Emily; Johnston, Josee. "Organic vs. Local: Comparing individualist and collectivist motivations for “ethical” food consumption." Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, vol. 4, no. 1, 2017, pp. 68-86. DOI: 10.15353/cfs-rcea.v4i1.191. This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation. Copyright © the author(s). Work published in CFS/RCÉA prior to and including Vol. 8, No. 3 (2021) is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY license. Work published in Vol. 8, No. 4 (2021) and after is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA license. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/.