farmers market study
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8/3/2019 Farmers Market Study
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/farmers-market-study 1/4
IsLocalFoodAffordableforOrdinaryFolks?AComparisonofFarmersMarkets
andSupermarketsinNineteenCommunitiesintheSoutheast
AnthonyFlaccavento,SCALE,Inc
November1st,2011
Introduction
The“localfoodsmovement”hasbeengrowingrapidlyforthepastdecadeormore,reaching
communitiesinnearlyeverypartoftheUnitedStates.Asconsumershavebecomemorehealth
consciousandavarietyoffederalprogramshaverecentlybeguntosupportthistrend,people
fromallwalksoflifehavebeguntoshifttheirfoodexpenditurestofarmersmarkets,CSAs,local
grocersandothertypesof“farm-to-consumer”directpurchases.
Farmersmarketshavebeenattheforefrontofthisgrowthinlocalfoods,increasinginnumber
from1,750inthemid-ninetiestomorethan7100in2011(USDAAgricultureMarketing
Service).WhilethebestknownfarmersmarketsareinlargercitieslikeNewYork,Washington,
DCandSeattle,thereareinfacthundredsofmarketsinthesoutheasternUS,Appalachiaand
otherareascomprisedpredominantlyofsmalltomediumsizedtownsandruralareas.
Asthelocalfoodsmovementhasgrown,somehavebeguntocriticizeitas“elitist”,with
expensivefoodslargelyunaffordableforworkingpeople,seniorsonfixedincomesandthe
poor.Farmersmarketsinparticularhaveincreasinglybeencitedforthiscriticism.
Growingoutofboththesuccessoffarmersmarketsandthisgrowingcriticismrelatedtotheir
affordability,SCALE,Incundertookasurveyandanalysisoffarmersmarketsinsixstatesin
AppalachiaandtheSoutheastduringthemonthsofSeptemberandOctober,2011.
SummaryofFindings
Thisstudylookedat24farmersmarketsin19communitiesinsixstates:Virginia,Tennessee,
WestVirginia,Kentucky,NorthCarolinaandSouthCarolina.Communitiesrangedfromunder
10,000inpopulationtoover250,000.Keyfindingsofthisstudyincluded:
1. Overall, farmersmarketsintheSoutheastandAppalachiaarehighlycompetitivewith
mainstreamsupermarkets intheirpricingonarangeofcommonlyconsumedfoods,
includingproduce,meatsandeggs.
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2. In74%ofcommunitiesexamined, producewaslessexpensiveatfarmersmarkets
comparedwithsupermarkets,onaverageby22%.
3. In88%ofcommunities,organicproduce–whenavailable-waslessexpensiveat
farmersmarketscomparedwithsupermarkets, onaverageby16%.
4.
Meatsandeggsasagroupweremoreexpensiveatfarmersmarketsineverymarket wheretheywereavailable.Thisdifferencewassmall–10%-whencomparinggrass-
finished/freerangemeatsinbothtypesofmarkets,butmuchlarger–47%-when
comparinggrass-finishedmeatsatfarmersmarketswithconventionallyraisedmeatsat
supermarkets.
5. Overallcost:Simplycomparingtheleastexpensiveitemavailableineithermarket(for
example,afreerangechickenwithaconventionallyraisedchicken), farmersmarkets
weremoreexpensivethansupermarkets52%ofthetime;thesameorlessexpensive
48%ofthetime.Whencomparing“applestoapples”,thatistosay,whenthelowest
pricedcomparableitemwasusedforcomparison, farmersmarketswerethesameor
lessexpensivethansupermarketsin74%ofallcases,byanaverageof12%lowercost.
Methodology
Datawasgatheredat24farmersmarketsin19differentcommunities,lookingatproduct
pricingonarangeoffreshproduce,eggsandmeats.Pricingonthesame(ormostclosely
comparable)itemswasthengatheredfrom2majorsupermarketsinthatsamecommunity,
duringthesameweek.
Theintentofthisanalysiswastoexaminetherelativeaffordabilityoffarmersmarketsfor
“ordinary”people,thatistosaylow,moderateandlowermiddleincomeconsumers.Thus,the
itemsselectedforcostcomparisonwereweightedtowardsmorecommonoreverydayfoods,
includingproduceitemsliketomatoes,bellpeppers,cucumbers,apples,zucchini,butternut
squash,potatoes,etc.Formeats,informationwasgatheredongroundbeef,chicken,eggs,and
insomecases,breakfastsausageandbeefroasts.Afulllistoftheitemsselectediscontainedin
theappendix.Thosedoingthedatagatheringweregivensomeflexibilityastospecificitems,
selectingfromalargerlistofcommonlyeatenfoods,dependinguponwhatwasavailableat
specificmarkets.
Foreachitem,pricingwascollectedfromeveryvendorwhocarriedtheitem.Themedianprice
onthatitemwasthendeterminedforeachmarket.Whereavailable,pricingonorganicitems
wastrackedseparatelyandthesameprocessusedtodeterminethemedianpriceforeachone
ofthese.
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Supermarketschosenforthecostcomparisonwereforthemostpartmainstream,including
twonationalchains,KrogerandFoodLion,tworegionalchains,InglesandFoodCity,andto
helpcompareorganicprices,twospecialtychains,WholeFoodsandEarthFare.OneIGAwas
alsousedinthestudy.Thevastmajorityofthesupermarketdatacomesfromthefirstfour,
mainstreamsupermarkets.Foreachpairofsupermarkets,priceswereusedfromthelessexpensiveofthetwo,thusbiasingthepricingcomparisonsomewhatinfavorofthe
supermarkets(basedontheassumptionthatcost-consciousconsumerswouldgenerallychoose
thelowercostsupermarkettothedegreepossible).Thiswasalsotrueforpricingonorganic
items.
Oncedatawascollectedfromthefarmersmarketsandnearbysupermarkets,acomparisonwas
madeofthetotalcostofallitemsattheseparatemarkets.
Oneofthechallengesinthisstudywas“comparability”ortheriskofcomparing“applesand
oranges”.Thiswasaproblemmuchmoresowithmeatitemsthanproduce,asnearlyallofthefarmersmarketmeatswere“grass-finished”,“freerange”(inthecaseofeggsandchickens),or
“pastureraised”(inthecaseofpork).Inseveralcommunities,thesupermarketsdidnotcarry
someorallofthesetypesofmeatsandeggs,socomparisoncouldonlybemadebetweenthe
grassbasedmeatsatthefarmersmarket–whicharenearlyalwaysmoreexpensiveinany
market–andtheconventionallyraisedmeatsinthesupermarket.Wherebothtypesofmeats
wereavailableatsupermarkets,anextralevelofcomparisonwasdrawn.
Anotherchallengewassimplefindingenoughproductsfromwhichtochooseateachmarket.
Thiswasareflectioninsomecasesoflaterarrivalonthemarketday,whensomevendorshad
alreadysoldoutofseveralitems.Inothercases,thedatawasnotgathereduntilearlyOctober,
whenoverallproductavailabilityisgenerallyloweratmarketsintheregion.Thisisalsowhyfall
crops–sweetpotatoes,butternutsquash,potatoes,kale,etc–werealsoincludedonthelist.
LimitsoftheStudy
Thisstudypointstoastrongandrelativelyconsistenttrendamongfarmersmarketsin
AppalachiaandtheSoutheast:Theyaregenerallypricecompetitivewithsupermarketsin
overallpricing,andusuallylessexpensivewhenitcomestoproduceandorganicproduce.However,moretownsandcitiesshouldbesurveyedintheregion,preferablyduringthe“peak
season”ofJuly–Augusttotestthefindingsofthisanalysis.
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Additionally,thisstudydoesnotattempttodrawconclusionsabouttherelativeaffordabilityof
farmersmarketsinotherregionsofthecountry,letalonenationally.Somepartsofthecountry
mayechothesefindings,whileothersmaycometoverydifferentconclusions.
Additionalfindingsandobservations
1. Inthissample,farmersmarketsinlargercities(100,000ormoreinthisregion)were
moreexpensiveoverallthansupermarketsin2outof4cases,lowerin1of4,and
virtuallythesamein1of4(Usingthemeasurementofoverallcostofcomparable
products).Eveninthetwocaseswherethesemarketswerehigher,itwasbyrelatively
smallmarginsof12%(Lexington,KY)and5%(Charleston,SC).
2. Amongmediumsizedtownsof40,000–99,999,overallpricingatfarmersmarketswere
virtuallythesameassupermarketsin2of5cases(Greenville/Spartanburg,SCand
ChapelHill,NC),slightlyhigherin2of5cases(Charleston,WVAby5%and
Charlottesville,VAby3%)andslightlylowerin1of5cases(Asheville,NCby5%).
3. Therelativelyhighcostoffree-rangechickensateveryfarmersmarketthatoffered
themsignificantlyincreasedthecostofmeatsatfarmersmarketsrelativeto
supermarkets.Freerangechickensareverypopularatmanymarketsinthesoutheast
andAppalachiaandmostproducersselloutconsistently,usuallyquickly.Thustheprice
isclearlyconsideredreasonable,oratleastworththeextracost,byasubstantial
numberofconsumers.Nevertheless,inthisanalysisthecostofachicken–generally
$4/lb,multipliedbya4poundbird,or$16–wasbyfarthesinglebiggestcontributorto
highercostsforfarmersmarketmeats(Bycomparison,mostconventionalchickensat
supermarketswerefrom$1.29-$1.49perpound,foratotalcostof$5-$6perchicken;
mostsupermarketsinthestudydidnotofferfreerange,wholechickens).Groundbeef,
bycontrast,wasgenerallyquitecloseinprice,aswerefreerangeeggsand,when
available,beefroastsandbreakfastsausage.Hadchickensnotbeenincluded,thecost
competitivenessoffarmersmarketswouldhavebeengreaterstill.
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