Date of Graduation

Fall 2016

Degree

Master of Natural and Applied Science in Agriculture

Department

Agribusiness, Agricultural Education, and Communications

Committee Chair

Arbindra Rimal

Abstract

Expenditures on locally grown food products are only a small portion of the total food expenditures in the United States. In order to find a way to increase this percentage, this study aims to identify various types of buyers currently participating in the purchase of locally grown food products. Buyers were divided into two groups: institutions and intermediated. A comparison of for both classifications of buyers was done to find the difference in their perceived barriers and requirements for purchasing local food. Determining these differences could help in future policymaking decisions in local food industries. This will also help farmers who are willing to enhance their productions in the market for locally grown food products. In total, 115 surveys were completed by various buyers in the food industry. The results of this study showed that all buyers were interested in purchasing local food products, and all had some similar barriers and requirements, such as GAP and GHP. In comparing institutional and intermediated buyers, institutions were 22% less likely to purchase local food products compared to intermediated buyers. This difference could be a result of institutions having stricter food safety requirement and more barriers to sourcing local including "not knowing" where to source from and lack of supply.

Keywords

local food, barriers to sourcing local, local food perceptions, institutional and intermediated buyers, logit model

Subject Categories

Agriculture

Copyright

© Jennifer Marie Moldovan

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