Thursday, January 30, 2014

AgriNews asks Dr. James Farmer, "What do buyers at farmers markets want?"

Dr. James Farmer, assistant professor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies at the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington was recently quoted in AgriNewsabout shoppers' motivations and expectations about shopping at farmers markets.

Farmer recently conducted a survey of over 300 people who are regular farmers market shoppers as well as people who have never visited a farmers market in order to gauge their opinions on why individuals do (and don't) shop at the markets.

Shoppers attend for a number of reasons aside from fresh fruits and vegetables, including both recreation and leisure purposes. “They like the social interaction,” he noted. Still another draw is to eat local and to support farmers that are part of the community. 

On the flip side, some people don't shop at farmers markets because they lack the time and the farmers markets "lack of infrastructure to support Women, Infant and Children checks, as well as electronic benefit transfers."

Read the full article.