Farmers' Market Research in Northern New York
When Allyson Jones-Brimmer applied for an internship to do farmers’ market research in northern New York counties, one appeal was her home residence in one of the locations. Allyson is from Jefferson County and the work also included Lewis, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, and Essex Counties. One of the things she discovered was the beauty of the rest of the region, much of which she had never visited.
More importantly, Allyson’s research yielded what she refers to as life lessons that give her a step up in the rest of her life. Her job was to collect data on multiple aspects of farmers’ market operations with a goal of enhancing the experience for both consumers and local farmers and producers and identify successful strategies for improved market and vendor performance. The internship was created by the Direct Marketing and Local Foods Project Team, a consortium of Cornell Cooperative Extension educators in the northern New York counties.
Allyson spent a month working with Molly Ames, an Extension Resource Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Jefferson County, to prepare for a research process called rapid market assessments. Consumers are asked quick, on-the-spot questions about their visit to a particular farmers’ market. This meant Allyson had to approach people and enlist their help. That skill became much easier as the summer went along—she surveyed between ten and 110 customers at each of the 27 markets. She now feels quite confident about getting into conversations with people she has never met. That will undoubtedly put her in good stead in spring 2009 when she studies abroad in Austria.
Consumers were asked a series of ten questions. They included:
- How far did you travel to get here?
- How much do you normally spend per visit at this market?
- What was your primary reason for coming?
- Describe your farmers’ market experience.
- What advertising influenced your attendance at the market?
- Rate this market on quality of products, variety of products, appearance of facility, convenience of location, friendliness/attitude of vendors, prices, and parking.
Other aspects of the research were gathering data from the 124 vendors at the markets and surveying the 18 market managers. Since most farmers’ markets occur on Saturdays, and there were at least ten markets operating each Saturday, Allyson enlisted the help of CCE educators to collect data across the area. She reports that in some of the counties there is a market almost every day of the week—making her task a large one.
Vendor questions included:
- What do you sell?
- How do you feel about the farmers’ market portion of your business?
- What do you see as your future with farmers’ markets?
- What do you think about this particular market and its manager?
Data from all of the 27 markets will be aggregated, making it possible to compare across markets. In addition, there was an opportunity to include market-specific questions when a particular issue was of interest—for example, organic produce. Allyson has a fall 2008 work study position with Todd Schmit, Assistant Professor of Agribusiness in the Department of Applied Economics and Management, her on-campus internship mentor. They are analyzing the data, some of which will be presented at a November in-service on local foods. Forthcoming research will also evaluate vendor, market, and consumer characteristics that improve vendor success and profitability when marketing products through farmers’ markets. The research will have potential application for sales and marketing strategies by vendors. It can be used to advertise local foods, a topic on a lot of consumers’ minds. And market managers can use the data to bolster grant applications for market improvements.
Allyson says her biggest life lesson from the internship was learning the importance of local foods. The experience changed her outlook on the food industry, and she carries a new perspective with her to collegiate activities, including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean’s Student Advisory Council, FFA, the dairy science club, and Sigma Alpha professional agriculture sorority. Allyson is an Agricultural Science Education major and will graduate in 2011.