Continuing with the PSU consumer research on purchasing behavior, another survey question asked survey respondents about origin of farmers' market produce.
Participants were asked if they purchased fresh produce from farmers' markets. Those that responded ‘yes’(63%) were then asked what percentage of produce grown at the farmers' market they believed was actually grown by the farmers at the market. If they did not believe that 100% of the produce was grown by the farmers at the market (84.6% of participants who shopped at farmers’ markets), they were then asked to indicate where they believed the produce was grown.
Results indicated that approximately 14.4% of participants who shopped at farmers’ markets believed that all of the produce sold at farmers’ markets was actually grown by the farmers at the market. The majority of the participants (53.8%) believed that 50-99% of produce at the market was grown by the market farmers. The majority (67.7%) reported that they believed the produce at the markets were grown within either their state/metro area or the mid-Atlantic region.
press release
As an ag entrepreneur, what is the importance of this data? If you sell at a farmers' market, do you think it is important to advertise the origin of your produce? Why do you think only 14.4% of respondents believe that all of the produce sold at farmers’ markets was actually grown by the farmers at the market?
