Why a decrease in participation in farmers markets? Survey aims to find out.

FMFNY Survey General Strawberries 1d9tek3

Across much of the United States, farmers markets have reported a decrease in consumer participation over the last couple of years, resulting in a decrease in farm sales and income. In an attempt to understand and reverse this slump, a multi-state study is being undertaken by Farmers Market Federation of NY and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, in partnership with Community Involved in Agriculture (CISA), NOFA-VT, Maryland Cooperative Extension and the Farmers Market Association of Maryland. The study will consist of a consumer survey to ascertain the reasoning behind consumer choices of venues to shop for local food. The survey will focus on all consumers with an interest in local food.

Your help in reaching consumers is valuable to the outcome of this study. Categories of consumers have been identified for the survey. Each category is important in identifying customer shopping behavior in purchasing local food, even those with no interest. The hope is to reach all categories of consumers.

·         those who regularly shop at farmers markets and are firmly behind the local food movement

·         those who view farmers markets as a social event, but have a keen interest in local food

·         those who are interested in local food, but rarely shop at a farmers market

·         those who have little to no interest in local food and never shop at farmers markets

Below is a link to the consumer survey. It is an online survey and does not require a face-to-face interaction. The survey is meant to take between 10 – 15 minutes.

https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_72s6sR6z0cs4D1X

The online survey will remain open from June 18, 2018 through October 1, 2018. At that time the survey will close to allow a team from the Charles H Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management at Cornell University to analyze the surveys to determine trends, preferences and needs of “today’s” local food shoppers.

Please direct any questions or comments to Diane Eggert at deggert@nyfarmersmarket.com or Laura Biasillo at lw257@cornell.edu.

cleardot

Kelsie Raucher

Kelsie is from southwest Missouri and grew up on a 150-acre farm helping her family buy and sell horses and cattle. She credits FFA for finding her passion for agriculture and food issues and desiring a career as an “agvocate.” Since coming to Cornell, she has gained interest in local production, global food issues, and environmental impacts of and on agriculture. She joined the Cornell Small Farms Program in May of 2018 and is excited to gain experience to complement coursework in the Agricultural Sciences major and Communication major.
Posted in

3 Comments

  1. Avatar of Shelley Martin Shelley Martin on November 2, 2018 at 9:56 am

    There was a video we watched last week that I now can’t locate and wanted to show at our Farmers market meeting tomorrow. It was a gal from Cornell walking around in different farmers markets discussing the decline with farmers market managers. Is there a Youtube link to it that I could have?
    Thanks,
    Shelley Martin

    • Kelsie Raucher on November 7, 2018 at 2:18 pm

      Hi Shelley,
      Unfortunately, I can’t find the video you are referencing either. I hope that your Farmers market meeting went smoothly.
      Best,
      Kelsie

  2. Avatar of Kevin David Kevin David on January 25, 2024 at 6:12 am

    Yes…!! There are many reasons that farmers markets have reported a decrease in consumer participation over the last couple of years, well the number 1 reason were consumers want to buy groceries from retail stores like Kroger, because it offers 50 Fuel Points at https://www-krogerfeedback.com/. Well Many stores like Kroger conducts customer satisfaction survey to occupy farmers market. Well these can’t be reversed, but to improve farmers market, quality should be aimed tgo serve customers.

Leave a Comment