Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T17:48:54.141Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trying and buying locally grown produce at the workplace: Results of a marketing intervention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Nancy J. Ross ,
Molly D. Anderson ,
Jeanne P. Goldberg ,
Robert Houser  and
Beatrice Lorge Rogers
Nancy J. Ross*
Affiliation:
Ph.D. graduate, Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 132 Curtis Street, Medford, MA 02155.
Molly D. Anderson
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 132 Curtis Street, Medford, MA 02155.
Jeanne P. Goldberg
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 132 Curtis Street, Medford, MA 02155.
Robert Houser
Affiliation:
Instructor, Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 132 Curtis Street, Medford, MA 02155.
Beatrice Lorge Rogers
Affiliation:
Dean of Academic Affairs, Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 132 Curtis Street, Medford, MA 02155.
*
2268 West River Road, Sidney, ME 04330 ([email protected]).
Get access

Abstract

Although consumers have a high opinion of locally grown produce, they do not consider origin as important as other factors in produce selection. Inconvenience is a major barrier to purchasing local produce. In a rural community in Maine, the Farm Fresh Project tested an intervention designed to exploit consumers' high regard for locally grown produce and also overcome the inconvenience of buying it. Each week for six weeks in the summer of 1997, employees at three worksites were offered tastings of locally grown produce, information about the produce, and an opportunity to order it at their workplaces. Changes in purchases of locally grown produce were compared with changes among employees at three matched control worksites. More than a quarter of workers at intervention worksites ordered produce through the project. Significant numbers of employees at intervention worksites who had not bought locally grown produce earlier in the summer bought it at outlets in the community during the four weeks following the intervention. Visits to the community farmers' market, purchases at roadside stands, pick-your-own purchases, and purchases of locally grown produce, both overall and at locations other than at the farmers' market, increased significantly in the intervention group. Among workers at control sites, only roadside stand purchases increased significantly. It appears that the opportunity to taste and purchase locally grown produce at a convenient venue, the workplace, motivated consumers to overcome barriers to purchasing locally grown produce at less convenient venues outside of the workplace. Temporary farm stands at workplaces may offer a promising new direct market for farmers.

Keywords

food marketingfood purchasingconsumer preferencesconsumer attitudesconsumer behaviorfarmers' marketsMaineworksite intervention
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , December 1999 , pp. 171 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Adelaja, A.O., Brumfield, R.G., and Lininger, K.. 1990. Product differentiation and state promotion of farm produce: An analysis of the Jersey Fresh tomato. J. Food Distrib. Res. 21(3):73–85.Google Scholar
2.Brooker, J.R., Eastwood, D.B., and Gray, M.D.. 1993. Direct marketing in the 1990s: Tennessee's new farmers' markets. J. Food Distrib. Res. 24(1):127–138.Google Scholar
3.Brooker, J.R., Eastwood, D., Stout, C.L., and Orr, R.H.. 1988. Branding locally grown produce in supermarkets. J. Food Distrib. Res. 19(1):51–60.Google Scholar
4.Bruhn, C.M., Vossen, P.M., Chapman, E., and Vaupel, S.. 1992. Consumer attitudes toward locally grown produce. Calif. Agric. 46(4):13–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Buitenhuys, N.C., Kezis, A.S., and Kerr, H.W. Jr., 1983. Consumer purchasing habits, acceptance, and preferences for direct marketed small farms' horticultural commodities in Maine. Maine Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 797. Orono, ME.Google Scholar
6.Cottingham, J., Hovland, J., Lenon, J., Roper, T., and Techtmann, C.. 1994. Direct marketing of farm produce and home goods: Direct marketing alternatives and strategies for beginning and established producers. University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Service P-3602. Madison, WI.Google Scholar
7.Coughlin, K., and Associates. 1995. The Cost of Community Services: The Comparative Fiscal Implications of Maintaining Land in Agriculture and Developing Land for Urban Uses. Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
8.Eastwood, D.B. 1996. Using customer surveys to promote farmers' markets: A case study. J. Food Distrib. Res. 27(3):23–30.Google Scholar
9.Eastwood, D.B., Brooker, J.R., and Orr, R.. 1987. Consumer preferences for local versus out-of-state grown selected fresh produce: The case of Knoxville, Tennessee. Southern J. Agric. Econ. 19:183–194.Google Scholar
10.Food Marketing Institute. 1995. Trends in the United States: Consumer Attitudes and the Supermarket. Food Marketing Institute, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
11.Govindasamy, R., and Nayga, R.M. Jr., 1996. Characteristics of farmer-toconsumer direct market customers: An overview. J. Ext. (Online) 34(4).Google Scholar
12.Govindasamy, R., Pingali, A., Italia, J., and Thatch, D.. 1998a. Consumer response to state-sponsored marketing programs: The case of Jersey Fresh. New Jersey Agric. Exp. Sta. P-02137-2-98. New Brunswick.Google Scholar
13.Govindasamy, R., Zurbriggen, M., Italia, J., Adelaja, A., Nitzsche, P., and Van Vranken, R.. 1998b. Farmers' markets: Consumer trends, preferences, and characteristics. New Jersey Agric. Exp. Sta. P-02137-7-98. New Brunswick.Google Scholar
14.Gwebu, T., Kezis, A., and Peavey, S.. 1997. The Orono Farmers' Market: A Consumer Survey. Food Products Initiative Market Report F.I. 4. University of Maine, Orono.Google Scholar
15.Kline, J., and Wichelns, D.. 1996. Public preferences regarding the goals of farmland preservation programs. Land Econ. 72:538–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Larson, J.A., and Gille, G.L.. 1996. Characteristics of producers and consumers at northwest Missouri farmers' markets. Trans. Missouri Acad. Sci. 30:72–79.Google Scholar
17.Lockeretz, W. 1986. Urban consumers' attitudes toward locally grown produce. Amer. J. Alternative Agric. 1:83–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.MacWilliams, C.S.S.R. 1995. Talking to Consumers About Organic Products. Focus Groups Conducted for Midwest Organic Alliance. Minneapolis, MN.Google Scholar
19.Maine Department of Human Services. 1997. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Maine Statewide Survey Data. Augusta, ME.Google Scholar
20.Market Decisions. 1998. Citizen Survey for Maine Economic Growth Council. South Portland, ME.Google Scholar
21.Norusis, M.J. 1997. SPSS 7.5 Guide to Data Analysis. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.Google Scholar
22.Pan Atlantic Consultants. 1997. Report to Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture on Consumer Preferences and Attitudes Regarding Massachusetts-Grown Agricultural Products. South Portland, ME.Google Scholar
23.Pelsue, N.H. 1984. Consumers at farmers' markets and roadside stands in Vermont. Vermont Agric. Exp. Sta. Res. Rep. 41. Burlington.Google Scholar
24.Senauer, B., Asp, E., and Kinsey, J.. 1991. Food Trends and the Changing Consumer. Eagan Press, St. Paul, MN.Google Scholar
25.Subar, A.S., Heimendinger, J., Krebs-Smith, S.M., Patterson, B.H., Kessler, R., and Pivonka, E.. 1992. Five A Day For Better Health: A Baseline Study of Americans' Fruit and Vegetable Consumption. National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD.Google Scholar
26.Thomson, J.S., and Kelvin, R.. 1996. Suburbanites' perceptions about agriculture: The challenge for media. J. Appl. Commun. 80(3):11–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27.Wilkins, J.L., Bokaer-Smith, J., and Hilchey, D.. 1996. Local Foods and Local Agriculture: A Survey of Attitudes Among Northeastern Consumers. Northeast Regional Food Guide Project. Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
28.Wolf, M.M. 1997. The target consumer profile and positioning for promotion of the direct marketing of fresh produce: A case study. J. Food Distrib. Res. 28(3):12–17.Google Scholar