Beyond distance: boundary-making and the negotiation of localness in a Swedish city-regional food system

Abstract Local food systems are increasingly promoted as pathways to sustainable consumption and food security; yet the concept of “local” remains fluid, contested, and deeply contextual. This paper examines how localness is constructed, negotiated, and operationalised within a local-regional food system in Östergötland, Sweden. Drawing on a case study comprising interviews with farmers, retailers, restaurateurs, and policy strategists, we examine how spatial, relational, and values-based proximities intersect to shape the definition of local food. Localness emerges through ongoing negotiations among actors, shaped by moral geographies, infrastructural arrangements, and institutional frameworks rather than predefined spatial boundaries. While actors invoke distance-based criteria, relational trust, and symbolic associations such as quality, fairness, and national identity are equally central. These definitions influence business decisions, where small-scale ideals coexist with reliance on centralised distribution systems, leading to a loss of connection to the product’s localness and relational proximity. Policy frameworks at the EU, national, and regional levels further complicate these dynamics, as strategies aimed at scaling local food often prioritise efficiency and standardisation, inadvertently marginalising small producers. Our results indicated that national and regional circularity, along with resource self-sufficiency, remain peripheral in both practice and policy, despite their potential to enhance resilience, which is a key feature of local food systems. We argue that integrating sustainability into everyday food system practices requires moving beyond fixed spatial metrics, embracing the negotiated, socio-material nature of localness, and recognising its relational and symbolic dimensions alongside structural constraints.