The peripheralization of prosocial messaging in the local food movement: toward a theory of conceptual gentrification

This article explores the visual and textual curation of local food in the popular media. Using a cross-case study design, I analyze the photographs and associated textual phrases for 662 posted made across three distinct edible Community (eC) social media pages throughout 2023. The theoretical domains of institutional logics and value narratives guide my exploration. Three themes are found to consistently characterize the visual curation of local food across the three eC social media sites: staged beauty, artistry, and abundance and opulence. These themes lead me to theorize concept gentrification as a process involving visual and textual curations that insidiously peripheralize prosocial concepts with roots in widespread accessibility and inclusivity and privilege aesthetics and market activities, thereby signaling exclusivity and higher brow consumption. The theoretical implications of concept gentrification are explored to include the potential for concept gentrification to serve as an early-stage indication of the emergence or spread of place gentrification.