Newswise,
April 5, 2016--People who buy their produce from farmers markets love the
freshness and nutritional value of the product. Not only that, rural residents
seek out such markets more than urban residents, a University of Florida
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher says.
The
latter finding surprised the researchers, led by Alan Hodges, an Extension
scientist in the UF/IFAS food and resource economics department.
“We
interpret this effect as due to greater awareness of farming and farm-fresh
foods in rural areas,” Hodges said.
“The finding also suggests that rural
households may be seeking out farmers’ markets as a travel destination rather
than as part of a multi-stop shopping trip, as would often be the case with
urban consumers. In addition, there is greater competition among food retailers
in urban areas, simply due to the larger number of venues available.”
If
you establish farmers markets within about three miles of someone’s home, it
will increase the chances urban residents will go to the market, but only by
about 3.7 percent, the UF/IFAS study showed.
The
findings are published in the journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems
and come from the master’s thesis of former UF/IFAS graduate student Ruoding
Shi, now a doctoral student at Virginia Tech.
Hodges
and Shi surveyed 7,500 randomly selected households in Florida and obtained
1,599 valid responses from the primary food shopper in the residence. They
asked consumers about shopping frequency and value of foods purchased through
multiple local food distribution channels – in this case, farmers markets,
U-pick operations and roadside stands.
Several
questions asked consumers their perceptions of local food attributes, such as
freshness, nutrition, food safety, food security, organic certification and
more. Questions also asked about limiting factors such as unavailability,
seasonality, not knowing if the produce was truly local, high price and more.
Of
those surveyed, 62 percent said they had bought locally grown foods at a
farmers’ market, roadside stand or U-pick operation. Of those respondents, 90
percent rated freshness as very important; 78 percent mentioned food safety and
67 percent noted the produce’s nutrition as very important.
“The
main takeaway from this study for local economic development is that consumer
perceptions about local food attributes affect the likelihood of shopping at
farmers’ markets,” Hodges said.
“These favorable attributes, such as freshness
and nutrition, can be emphasized by market managers to increase business
volume. In addition, accessibility of farmers’ markets to consumers in terms of
distance from home is just one factor among others that should be considered
for locating markets.”
