Attitudes toward Locally Produced Food Products: Households and Food Retailers

Abstract

“Locally produced” is generally defined as the production and marketing of food products within a certain geographic proximity of farmers and consumers. Locally produced sector includes business operations such as farmers’ markets, farm-to-school programs, and community supported agriculture (CSA) among others. In 2008, farm level value of locally produced agricultural products was estimated at $4.8 billion, or approximately 1.6% of the market value of agricultural products (Johnson et al., 2012). Nearly 5% of the farms of all categories took part in locally produced market. Increasing gasoline and food prices, the demand for organically produced food, the demand for fresher and higher quality foods, the desire to support local farming economies, the environmental movement and trends in horticulture research have led to growing popularity of locally produced fruits and vegetables (Roth 1999; Andreatta and Wickliffe 2002; Brown 2002). The influence of current food shopping trends local food, support for local farmers and agribusinesses, and fresh quality produce and meat are considered to be behind the strong surge of farmers who utilize direct marketing. (LeRoux et al. 2009; Mark et al. 2009) In addition to farmers markets, road-side markets and u-pick markets, producers have found direct sales to the local restaurants, food service institutions, and schools profitable marketing strategies (USDA 2001). In various studies, buyers of fresh fruits and vegetables have also reported a favorable attitude toward local production.