Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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models were not based on a specific dollar amount - just the wording
higher
priced
. They claimed that “this costlier commodity could negatively impact
the consumer's price image of the store” (499) and “this result suggests that
more than one in five consumers would not shop at a supermarket offer-
ing this higher priced produce” (500). This fuzzy research did not define
the important terms:
certified organic
and
higher priced
. Unfortunately, the
findings were targeted at retailers, which could make themwary of stocking
organic products.
Price and production quantity data for organic broccoli, carrots, cel-
ery, romaine lettuce, strawberries, and watermelons were used to model
“supply elasticities” - or how price influences the amount of crops grown
(Lohr and Park 1995). For the 1985-89 period, wholesaler prices for these
organic crops, production quantity, and climate influences were statistically
modeled. They found that organic farmers have more marketing flexibil-
ity because they can, and do, sell through either conventional or organic
outlets. Their model indicated that higher prices would lead to increased
supply of organic produce, with carrot output quicker to adjust and lettuce
slower. As the organic produce market matures and develops a “structure
of the industry” (29), these supply issues will vary. The question is, do we
now have a mature organic market? How does this affect consumers and
farmers? Locally the answer is not in doubt, as farmers have feedback on
consumer demand, in the form of personal contact, and can vary crops as
needed. In larger distribution channels, farmers still tailor their crops for
certain markets, but once the crop is in the ground there may be a long lag
time before their specific crop rotation can include major changes in crop
types.
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R
URAL GEOGRAPHY AND LOCAL FOOD
A food mile is a geographic concept used to indicate the distance that
food travels from farmers to consumers. Using produce arrival data from
the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, the Chicago terminal market was
examined for 1981 and 1998 (Pirog et al. 2001). A weighted average source
distance was used to calculate a distance estimate that combined informa-
tion on the distances from producers to consumers and the amount of food
product transported. Produce arriving by truck traveled an average distance
of 1,518 miles to reach Chicago in 1998,a22 percent increase over the 1,245
miles traveled in 1981.
The current global food system is geographically illogical. For example,
it is supposedly “cheaper” to sell citrus from Latin America in northern
