Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who mainly eats locally produced food, especially within a specified radius of one's home.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who tries to eat only locally grown foods.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Coined by Jessica Prentice (born 1968), American chef : loca- (as in local, location, etc.) + -vore (as in carnivore, omnivore, etc.)]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From loca- by analogy with local, location, locomotive, locus, and so on, and -vore by analogy with carnivore, herbivore, and so on. Coined by Jen Maiser, Jessica Prentice, Sage Van Wing, and DeDe Sampson, co-founders of the “Locavores” Web site.

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Examples

  • And now, he's a farm-to-table guy, just like Chopra who uttered the word locavore last night, like a prayer.

    Rozanne Gold: Chopra and Vongerichten Talk Food Rozanne Gold 2011

  • And now, he's a farm-to-table guy, just like Chopra who uttered the word locavore last night, like a prayer.

    Rozanne Gold: Chopra and Vongerichten Talk Food Rozanne Gold 2011

  • Around here, where "fine dining" often means two kinds of vinegar for your chips, guffaws greet the term "locavore."

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed MARGO PFEIFF 2011

  • But in the heart of Appalachia, where there isn't a critical mass of suppliers or customers for whom the term "locavore" rolls naturally off the tongue, the restaurant remains something of a curiosity.

    NYT > Home Page By JANE BLACK 2011

  • Jessica Prentice coined the term locavore for World Environment Day in 2005 to promote local eating, and local consumption in general.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Ronnie Cummins 2011

  • Around here, where "fine dining" often means two kinds of vinegar for your chips, guffaws greet the term "locavore."

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed MARGO PFEIFF 2011

  • Both restaurants are owned by Thomas Salamunovich, a chef who might have been the first person to use the term locavore within the county.

    Vail Daily - Top Stories Wren Wertin wren@vaildaily.com Vail 2010

  • Both restaurants are owned by Thomas Salamunovich, a chef who might have been the first person to use the term locavore within the county.

    Vail Daily - Top Stories Wren Wertin wren@vaildaily.com Vail 2010

  • Something that inspires the diner to use the word "locavore" in a sentence.

    Anna Brones: Formulating the Foolproof Foodie Menu Anna Brones 2011

  • Something that inspires the diner to use the word "locavore" in a sentence.

    Anna Brones: Formulating the Foolproof Foodie Menu Anna Brones 2011

Comments

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  • 2007 Word of the Year

    November 12, 2007

  • I've heard of a placeholder, but not a "place-eater". I like the concept (eating things grown locally), but "proxivore" might have been a better word for it.

    November 13, 2007

  • I've also heard locatarian as a way to describe the valiant few among us on the east coast who can forgo coffee.

    November 13, 2007

  • Aha! So you're one of them! ;-)

    November 13, 2007

  • I dislike this word.

    November 13, 2007

  • Nope, I'm a kiwi-eating, darjeeling-swilling eater of world foods. To me, coffee is the #1 reason not to be a locavore, with greek olives a close second. But because I am with child* I have given it up for the time being.

    *Actually had a doctor refer to me as such. I nearly peed my pants trying not to laugh.

    November 14, 2007

  • Ha! That always makes me think of those who are "without child"--as though they somehow deliberately lost them along the way.

    Much as I'd love to be a locavore, I love coffee and chocolate and...well, other stuff...too much. At least I buy fair-trade, shade-grown, organic coffee (a mouthful in itself). Think that helps?

    Sionnach: I agree. This is not a likeable word.

    November 14, 2007

  • Interesting concept, I might try it for a week just to see how batty it makes me and so that I appreciate pappadums all the more.

    What would be the antonym? Globivore - those of us devouring the world's resources by eating products from all over it?

    November 22, 2007

  • I have heard proxitarian, on a par with vegetarian (a human who exercises choice over what to eat) rather than with carnivore (an animal which doesn't).

    December 25, 2008

  • A locavore is someone who attempts to eat all or mostly locally grown food.

    July 4, 2009