A comparative study of farmers' markets visitors' needs and wants: the case of Alabama

Abstract

Many studies refer to the importance of farmers' markets for both food producers and for visitors. For producers, the ability to obtain higher returns and/or market part of their produce as value‐added products can be strong incentives, while for consumers benefits include having access to fresher, often tastier foods or simply visiting as a social activity. Relatively few studies, however, explore visitors' needs and wants with regards to their farmers' market experience, that is, from visitors' perspective. The present study explores this dimension, comparing visitors' views in two different farmers' markets, one recently developed (since 2009) in a rural area vs. one already established (since 2004) in a university town (urban area). A total of 356 farmers' market visitors participated in the study. Respondents' comments from the two different farmers' markets are very much in agreement in the context of their needs and wants. Primarily, visitors want more product variety, an extended season, that is, not only limited to the summer season, and more vendors. The fact that more than half of the respondents regularly visit farmers' markets demonstrates their need and interest in locally produced foods. Given such strong interest, the potential for beneficial producer–consumer interactions in the sites studied appears to be enormous. Furthermore, farmers and other food producers have an ideal opportunity to increase the interest of consumers, ‘convert’ them to their foods and realise important benefits in the process. The overall findings also suggest opportunities for the establishment of other farmers' markets in a state (Alabama) with a long agricultural tradition.

Communicating social support during crises at the farmers’ market: A social exchange approach to understanding customer‐farmer communal relationships

“…Farmers must provide customers benefits in return for loyal support, which is consistent with SET (Cropanzano & Mitchell, ; Emerson, ; Roloff, ). Farmers provide access to a food supply that consumers perceive as high quality (Brown, ; Feagan & Morris, ), environmentally friendly (Alkon, ; Garner, ), and healthy (Alonso & O'Neill, ; Brown, ; Myae & Goddard, ). Farmers also provide customized service to loyal customers.…”

Systematic Review of Factors Influencing Farmers’ Market Use Overall and among Low-Income Populations

“…Food prices were identified as both being fair and reasonable 50,64-73 and too expensive. 45,47,50,65,66,69,[74][75][76][77][78] Price was identified as not being a concern related to farmers' market use in six studies, 45,49,50,70,78,79 whereas no low-income studies reported this finding. Acceptance of food assistance benefits at farmers' markets was not identified as a key factor related to market use among any of the studies of middle-to highincome or nonspecified-income populations.…”

Sustainability marketing at the farmers’ market: An ethnographic analysis of ambiguous communication

“…Sustainability is a linchpin of many farmers’ markets, and some argue that sustainability is a reason why direct, alternative markets have grown recently in the United States (US), Canada, New Zealand, and the UK (Betz & Farmer, ; Brown, ; Carey, Bell, Duff, Sheridan, & Shields, ; Guthrie, Guthrie, & Lawson, ; Lawson, Guthrie, Cameron, & Fischer, ; Smithers, Lamarche, & Joseph, ; USDA, , ). Customers attend markets for many reasons: to get fresh food (Alonso & O'Neill, ; Brown, ; McNeill & Hale, ; Trobe, ), to encourage sustainable farming practices (Alkon, ; Garner, ), to support local farms economically (Brown & Miller, ; Lyson, Gillespie, & Hilchey, ), to build community ties (Feagan & Morris, ), have a more personal exchange (Garner, ; Robinson & Hartenfeld, ), and express their morality or ethics (Garner, ; McEachern, Warnaby, Carrigan, & Szmigin, ).…”

“…As mentioned above, consumers often equate farmers’ market food consumption with sustainability initiatives (Alkon, ; Alonso & O'Neill, ; Garner, ; Hunt, ). However, not all farms are equal in terms of applying environmental friendly practices, and consumers are not necessarily well educated on these issues.…”

“…As mentioned above, consumers often equate farmers' market food consumption with sustainability initiatives (Alkon, 2008a(Alkon, , 2008bAlonso & O'Neill, 2011;Garner, 2014;Hunt, 2007).…”