Farmers markets can play an important role in enhancing farm profitability, particularly those farms choosing to differentiate their products by appealing to consumer preferences for “locally grown†food or gain a larger share of the food dollar by marketing directly to consumers...

Demand for organic products continues to grow by about 20 percent per year, and certified or­ganic farmers continue to receive premium prices for most organic fresh produce. Currently, most conventional supermarket and wholesale buyers purchase produce from large-scale domestic or...

Institutional food service operations have shown increasing interest in locally grown foods, and are providing a business opportunity for farmers and distributors. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the results and implications of a survey assessing institutional food service...