Urban farmers' markets: Accessibility, offerings, and produce variety, quality, and price compared to nearby stores

Abstract

Most food-environment research has focused narrowly on select stores and restaurants. There has been comparatively less attention to non-storefront food sources like farmers' markets (FMs), particularly in urban communities. The objective of the present study was to assess FMs' potential contribution to an urban food environment in terms of specific foods offered, and compare FM accessibility as well as produce variety, quality, and price to that of nearby stores. Investigators conducted a detailed cross-sectional assessment of all FMs in Bronx County, NY, and of the nearest store(s) selling produce within a half-mile walking distance (up to two stores per FM). The study included 26 FMs and 44 stores. Investigators assessed accessibility (locations of FMs and stores relative to each other, and hours of operation for each), variety (the number and type of all food items offered at FMs and all fresh produce items offered at stores), quality (where produce items were grown and if they were organic), and price (including any sales prices or promotional discounts). Analyses included frequencies, proportions, and variable distributions, as well as mixed-effect regressions, paired t-tests, and signed rank tests to compare FMs to stores. Geographic information systems (GIS) allowed for mapping of FM and store locations and determining street-network distances between them. The mean distance between FMs and the nearest store selling fresh produce was 0.15 miles (range 0.02-0.36 miles). FMs were open substantially fewer months, days, and hours than stores. FMs offered 26.4 fewer fresh produce items on average than stores (p values <0.02). FM produce items were more frequently local and organic, but often tended towards less-common/more-exotic and heirloom varieties. FMs were more expensive on average (p values <0.001 for pairwise comparisons to stores)—even for more-commonplace and “conventional” produce—especially when discounts or sales prices were considered. Fully, 32.8% of what FMs offered was not fresh produce at all but refined or processed products (e.g., jams, pies, cakes, cookies, donuts, juice drinks). FMs may offer many items not optimal for good nutrition and health, and carry less-varied, less-common fresh produce in neighborhoods that already have access to stores with cheaper prices and overwhelmingly more hours of operation.

Making Sense of Sustainability: A Practice Theories Approach to Buying Food

“…Critics of all of these interpretations of access instead call for more attention to the role of the broader "food environment" and consumers' interactions with it [4][5][6]. These authors argue that understanding access as dictated by information, financial circumstances, or supply-side dynamics only, overlooks crucial factors, like the social and cultural environment, as well as personal preferences.…”

“…This means that consumers do not always straightforwardly act upon the knowledge on sustainability provided to them, but rather are also guided by other issues, including material, mental, and social barriers. Other literature primarily emphasizes the role of the supply side and the physical environment in accessing healthy and sustainable food (see [6,7] for an overview). Financial circumstances of consumers are also frequently flagged as a major factor determining access to sustainable food [7,8].…”

Influencia de la capacidad gerencial del apicultor en la viabilidad de unidades de producción apícola en la Pampa Argentina

“…Este hecho contrasta con lo reportado por Magaña et al (1) en México, donde se han desarrollado modernos centros de acopio y se han creados redes más complejas de comercialización. Diferentes estudios han mostrado que uno de los elementos clave para mejorar la comercialización de la producción primaria son las organizaciones de productores (30) . Como resultado de diferentes políticas gubernamentales han surgido agrupaciones de productores que intentan articular la apicultura en torno a pautas de gestión, programas de trazabilidad y de comercialización conjunta; sin embargo, son muy pocas las organizaciones que han logrado concentrar volúmenes significativos y vender de forma conjunta (6) .…”

Does Urban Agriculture Improve Food Security? Examining the Nexus of Food Access and Distribution of Urban Produced Foods in the United States: A Systematic Review

“…Other literature studies efforts to bring in fresh food through farmers markets locating in underserved communities, or through offering fresh produce (not necessarily urban produced) in corner stores [47][48][49]. Both efforts have met with limited success [50][51][52]. Less is known about the actual consumption of urban produced foods by low-income communities.…”

“…She theorizes the promise and limitations of the "green economy" and chronicles the food movement's anti-capitalist roots yet ultimate manifestation as reproducing capitalist inequalities. Lucan et al's study of farmers markets in the Bronx took issue with limited hours of operation, seasonality, affordable common produce, and availability of predominantly healthy foods among farmers markets [29] compared to nearby stores [49,51]. Accepting Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT, or Food Stamps) payments is a basic prerequisite for farmers markets to be considered accessible to low-income consumers, a concept pioneered by the GrowNYC's Greenmarket program [101].…”