Across much of the United States, farmers markets have reported a decrease in consumer participation over the last couple of years, resulting in a decrease in farm sales and income. In an attempt to understand and reverse this slump, a multi-state study is being undertaken by Farmers Market Federation of NY and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, in partnership with Community Involved in Agriculture (CISA), NOFA-VT, Maryland Cooperative Extension and the Farmers Market Association of Maryland. The study will consist of a consumer survey to ascertain the reasoning behind consumer choices of venues to shop for local food. The survey will focus on all consumers with an interest in local food.

Below is a link to the consumer survey:

https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_72s6sR6z0cs4D1X [1]

The online survey will remain open from June 18, 2018 through October 1, 2018. At that time the survey will close to allow a team from the Charles H Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management at Cornell University to analyze the surveys to determine trends, preferences and needs of “today’s” local food shoppers.

Please direct any questions or comments to Diane Eggert at deggert@nyfarmersmarket.com [2] or Laura Biasillo at lw257@cornell.edu [3].