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

• Published in: American journal of alternative agriculture Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 171 - 179
• Main Authors: Ross, N.J, Anderson, M.D, Goldberg, J.P, Houser, R, Rogers, B.L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: direct marketing; farmers' markets; food marketing; fruit; vegetables; working conditions; Maine
• ISSN: 0889-1893
• DOI: 10.1017/S0889189300008353

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 consumer's high regard for locally grown and also overcome the inconvenience of buying it. Each week for six weeks in the summer 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 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 purchase locally grown produce at less convenient venues outside of the workplace. Temporary farm stands at workplace may offer a promising new direct market for farmers.