Local Food Vitality Index: Measuring Consumer Attitudes toward Food System Attributes

A local food system vitality index is estimated based on resident consumer performance measures over an array of food market channels, community engagement, and promotion effectiveness. An index is created for individual elements and for the local food system overall. A survey examined consumer performance measures for Lexington, Kentucky, with additional reference to evaluating recent previous communities of these consumers. The resulting index allows food systems participants and economic development interests to gain a resident consumer perspective of what elements are working well but also determine how individual elements might contribute to the overall score provided for the community in question.