Do Local Food Products Contribute to Sustainable Economic Development?

Abstract

Local food production benefits sustainable regional development and should be considered as one the pillars of sustainable regional development strategies. Local food producers share a common heritage because of the cultural and historical ties in their regions, while consumers tend to value food products produced locally. The purpose of this article was to explore market participants’ attitudes toward the impact of local food product attributes on sustainable regional development. The authors’ findings on the main advantages and barriers to consumption of local food products have pointed out the complexity of the relationships between market participants (i.e., producers and consumers) and indicated that a deeper understanding is necessary for overall economic development. The problems of local food products in Serbia, in the context of sustainable regional development, have not been investigated so far, and for this reason, it is important to analyze the differences between consumer and producer attitudes to reduce this perceived gap in the literature. In this way, these insights can offer opportunities for strategic actions in regard to the local food product supply and consumption, with the aim of including different regional stakeholders.