The Affordability of Farmers’ Markets in Low-Income Boston

Neighborhoods:

Robyn Lightner

Getting to the Root of Popular Perceptions

The Food Project; http://www.mainetoday.com/blogs/inasnap/cat_farmers_market.html

www.thefoodproject.org

Introduction

By 2010, 21 farmers’ markets throughout the Boston metropolitan area participated in the BBB program and the usage of SNAP ($41,402.28) along with BBB matches ($36,409.46) combined for a total of $77,811.74 in sales- a 387% increase over the previous summer.

Representing 28.5% of total Boston sales, the ten FM located in Dorchester and Roxbury reported a total of $21,699.58 in combined SNAP/BBB sales (The Food Project, preliminary report, 2011).

BUT, there remains a widespread perception that farmers’ market produce is more expensive than conventional supermarket produce. This uninformed perception is a barrier to the attendance of price-sensitive shoppers at farmers’ markets.

Relative Cost of Direct Retail Problems with previous research: did not devise plan to handle multi-leveled

inconsistency of produce, combined produce into market basket, short time frame ignored effects of seasonality and volume.

Demonstrated need for a replicable methodology for comparing produce prices at conventional grocery outlets with those at direct retail outlets

Must be neighborhood-specific, include strategies that account for hard to measure effects of seasonality and quality

Pirog and McCann, 2009; Kaemingk, 2010.

Pie Chart Comparing Prices at Seattle Farmers Markets with

Prices at QFC (SM)

Observational StudyObjective

Clarify perception that farmers market produce is more expensive than conventional market produce in order to accurately educate communities about the local affordability of healthy food & inform the efforts of community groups, policy advocates, farmers, etc.

o Learn how the price of produce differs between farmers’ markets and supermarketsin Dorchester and Roxbury

o Focus on specifics of a well-defined geographic/demographic area

o Assess relative quality between locations

Methods: Variable SelectionNeighborhoods

North Dorchester, South Dorchester, Roxbury

Similar socio-economic statistics, outlet density, momentum

Retail Outlets All 10 FM and 7 SM in 8 mile area FM implemented for variety of reasons All outlets accept SNAP/EBT, WIC; all FM

accept FMNP and BBBTime Periods

Eight 14-day periods between July 5 and October 24, 2010

Vendor Research Organic certification, time between point

of harvest and sale, pricing strategies= Farmers Market

= Supermarket

Roxbury

Dorchester

Farmers’ Market Information

Methods: Variable SelectionProduce Types

Carrots: unpeeled, with green tops and w/o green tops Cucumbers: unwrapped, not English Onions: yellow, large, loose (not bagged) Tomatoes (field): about fist size, not hot house/ greenhouse, not

heirloom, no vine Zucchini: green summer squash White Potatoes: loose Scallions: green onions (not red bulb) Lettuce: green leaf, not romaine/Bibb/iceberg variety, not

bagged/washed/trimmed Bell Peppers (green): loose Green Beans: loose

Bowdoin Street Health Center; Robyn Lightner

Methods: Data Collection

Description of Data

Data Analysis

“How does the mean price per pound (PRICE) change with variation in location type (LOCATION), while produce type (PRODUCE), time period (TIME), and quality rating (QUALITY) are held constant?”

Results verified using log transformation to enhance normality of distribution

Statistical analyses were performed using STATA, version 9.0 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, 2008).

Y = lnPRICE = 0 + 1 LOC + 2 TIME1 + … + 8 TIME7 +

9 PROD1 + … + 17 PROD9 + 18 QUAL1 + 19 QUAL2 + E

Multivariate Regression Model

Regression Model

A regression of the dependent variable lnPRICE on LOCATION controlling for PRODUCE, TIME, and QUALITY yields an estimated coefficient of .029 and a p-value of 0.043. These results suggest that when produce type, time period, and quality are held constant, the price per pound is 2.9% greater at farmers’ markets. The very low p-value of .043 asserts the statistical significance of this result.

Regression Summary of lnPRICE on Successive Fixed Effects

Regression by Produce Type

Regression by Time Period

Regression by Time & Produce Type

Regression by Time & Produce Type

Time PeriodTime Period

Time Period Time Period

Time Period

Time Period

Other Discount Opportunities Bulk discounts

i.e. Shaw’s loose onions were sold for $1.79/lb. compared with a 2 lb. package of onions for $0.92/lb (about a 50% discount), and Tropical Foods sold loose potatoes for $0.79/lb. compared with a 5 lb. bag for $0.34/lb (nearly a 60% discount).

Value card discounts i.e. “Stop and Shop Card” offered zucchini for $0.50/lb. (regular price =

$1.49) or green beans for $0.20/lb. (regular price = $1.69).

Bounty Bucks Up to $10.00 in “free” produce for SNAP users

More on Quality Organic or IPM Growing Methods

2 vendors certified (Langwater and Serving Ourselves), all others practice mostly organic growing methods

Freshness All produce was grown within 2 hours driving time of Boston Likely sold within 24-48 hours of harvest

Examples of Comments on Quality

How Much Really is 3%? The Economic Research Service of the USDA recently announced that

an adult on a 2,000-calorie diet could satisfy recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans at an average of $2 to $2.50 per day (Stewart et al., 2008).

Using a mean of $2.25, an increase by 3% would increase daily cost of consuming the recommended F & V amount by about 7-cents to $2.32.

Over the course of the 16-week/112 day summer market season used in this study, purchasing the recommended daily amount of produce would increase from $252.00 to $259.84- just under $8.00 over 4 months.

This added expense could be more than compensated for in just one day using Bounty Bucks!

How can this information be used to educate consumers about the affordability of neighborhood farmers’ markets?

Focus on the seasonal height of specific produce types and use time-sensitive publicity to encourage purchasing when price is lowest. For example, highlight bell peppers and cucumbers as “Top Pickings” or “Highest Seeds” during the last two weeks of September (time period 6), and do the same for scallions and lettuce during the first two weeks in October (time period 7).

Create a citywide graphic that shows a visual of how much produce $20 could get a SNAP user at farmers’ markets and how that produce translates into a few days worth of vegetable servings.

Create a side-by-side visual comparison of the amount of produce a shopper could buy using $10 worth of SNAP at a supermarket, then show that same amount doubled for farmers’ markets to demonstrate the double voucher benefits available through Boston Bounty Bucks.

Special Thanks Cammy Watts, The Food Project

Cathy Wirth, Bowdoin Street Community Health Center

Professors Kate Sims, Jan Dizard, and Amy Wagaman, Amherst College

Phuong Luong and Cara Brumfeld, The Food Project

Nebi Stephens, Cynthia Loesch, Tim Deihl, Dave Dumaresque, The B.O.L.D. Teens of Codman Square

http://www.boldteens.org/media.html

Questions?