Food motivations, ethical consumerism, and farmers markets : A case of Peterborough, Ontario

Through research conducted in a downtown farmer’s market (DTM) in Peter-borough, Ontario, this research paper aims to address and problematize the “ethical consumer” and how it is practised at the everyday level of the DTM. This paper contributes to existing urban food research by examining how ethical consumerism and food motivations are practised on a micro-level. By focusing on market users and market vendors, it examines the motivations on why people attend the DTM and their assumptions around the food choices people make. Results show that resident’s food choices are determined not only by identity, convenience, and ethical eating/responsibility, but also price and social status. It also shows that those participating in ethical consumerism and farmers market spaces can be exclusive which has underlying issues of race and class. It is revealed that Peterborough is undergoing the process of “green gentrification” which can further exacerbate existing issues of exclusion and social justice.