Towards Developing Ethical Spaces in Cities; Exploring Geographical Dimensions of Ethical Consumption in Tehran by Focusing on Local Food Consumption

Geographical Research has been examining ethical issues in a wide range of areas including consumption patterns. One of the ethical issues in geography is consumption of local food products which refers to food miles and environmental issues, fair trade, social justice, and food democracy. Although in recent years, local food consumption has become more prevalent in developed countries, but recently it has been widespread in developing countries. In Iran, different climatic zones have created various opportunities for growing local food products, but due to various factors, consumers are facing many challenges in consumption of this kind of products. This study aims to investigate consumer’s attitude, intention and behavior regarding to local food products. In this regard, 197 consumers have been selected in district 1 and 20 of Tehran city to fill the questionnaires by using convenience sampling method. The results of data analysis show that despite the ethical values of the respondents, including their health- related issues, supporting local producers and protecting the environment, there is a positive correlation between long distance to buy local food and unwillingness of local product’s consumption. In addition, long distance is one of the most important challenge for consumers to buy local one. Therefore, due to issues such as food miles and environment pollution, food safety, etc., the intervention of urban planners in local food systems should be considered. Urban planners should encourage local communities to produce and consume more sustainable local food and protect local agricultural resources.