Date of Award

5-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Legacy Department

English

Committee Chair/Advisor

Sample, Joseph C.

Committee Member

Sample, Joseph

Committee Member

Hilligoss, Susan

Committee Member

Robinson, Kathleen Wilson

Abstract

Beginning in the late 1940s, concerns arose about the enlarging scope of the industrial American food system. Subsequent analysis revealed a continuing pattern of expansion throughout the 1970s and 1980s. A countermovement developed with the aim of altering food production and distribution to create more regionalized food systems. Eventually, individual states came to create their own marketing programs to promote locally grown foods. Private interests also developed initiatives to promote eating locally. By 2007, the term coined to describe one who strives to eat local foods, "locavore," had become New Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year. The states' efforts are compared here with those of a private interest to determine whether the various campaigns create symbolic convergence and present a cohesive message. This thesis examines the campaigns using Ernest Bormann's symbolic convergence theory and its critical method, fantasy-theme analysis, to deconstruct the narratives laid out in the promotions. It presents examples of the impact such campaigns can have on regional economies, and studies the messages and media of the campaigns. Interviews with program managers in three states create case studies that provide further insights into the rhetorical dimensions of those campaigns.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.