Grades and inspections govern the marketing of agricultural commodities. Federal legislation created the marketing institutions, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when national markets were emerging. Three commodities – fresh produce (fruit and vegetables), grains, and meat – all rely...

The quality of many goods and services may change randomly between the time of shipment and delivery, creating disputes over quality that can result in lemons-market equilibria. We investigate the potential of third-party inspections for such inefficiencies. We consider two types of inspection,...

This paper investigates the prevalence of slotting fees in organic packaged and prepared products, and identifies the factors that influence the relative size of slotting fees. Based on a 2009 survey of U.S. food retailers, we find that 31 percent of surveyed retailers accept slotting fees for...

We use a two-stage, sample selection model to investigate organic milk purchases using Neilsen’s Homescan data. In the first stage, households decide on a weekly basis to buy mainly organic milk or non-organic milk. Results from this stage show that higher income, better education, having...

The organic market sector is one of the fastest growing food sectors in the United States with growth rates in organic food sales averaging 18% per year between 1998 and 2005. The largest segment within the organic market is fresh produce, comprising 36% of retail sales in 2005. To date, no...