STATE COLLEGE,
Pennsylvania, November 29, 2004: Sure, it costs
more and it may be more difficult to obtain, but consumers
want locally raised meat. The results of a summer survey,
Consumer Motivations for Purchasing Local Meats, indicate
that over 60% of Pennsylvania consumers who regularly
purchase meat directly from a local farmer make an extra
effort to do so. The survey, which was commissioned
by Ben Franklin Technology Center of Pennsylvania and
conducted by the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable
Agriculture, revealed that over 85% of these consumers
pay more for local meat.
So what motivates consumers to drive further and spend
more for local meat? Health...that is, concern for personal
health.
“An overwhelming majority of people cited health
as their primary reason for buying local meat,”
said Amy Trauger, a doctoral student at Pennsylvania
State University and the principle investigator for
the study. “It’s surprising because we’re
told that Americans just want cheap food that tastes
good.”
But these consumers aren’t your average Americans.
Over 60% of the respondents reported household incomes
of over $50,000, which is higher than Pennsylvania’s
average of $40,106 (US Census Bureau 2000). These consumers
are also college educated and over two times more likely
to have children in their household.
“In many cases, families came to the market together
as a social event. It’s more fun to go to a farmers’
market to buy food than at a grocery store,” said
Trauger.
Sixty percent of those surveyed said that one of the
most important reasons for purchasing directly from
a local farmer was to support the local economy. “These
results confirm that consumers are beginning to understand
the connection between how they spend their food dollars
and the viability of their local farm communities,”
said Heather House, Director of Educational Outreach
at PASA.
House believes people’s concern for health extends
to the entire food system, ranging from the health of
local economies to the environment in which the animals
are raised. For example, over 60% cited ‘factory
farming practices’ as a reason NOT to purchase
regular meat from a grocery store. A Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operation (CAFO) or ‘factory farm’
is defined by federal and state statute as a facility
that contains 1,000 animal units. Many consumers believe
that, in addition to the possibility of having a negative
impact on the environment, these farms may not be producing
a healthy product.
“We’re witnessing growth in demand for
locally raised meats, and other products for that matter,
that directly corresponds to consumers becoming more
educated about the nature of food production. It’s
not just what you eat anymore, it’s about how
it was produced and by whom,” said House.
Trauger will present the results of this study at the
annual PASA conference in February. Brian Snyder, Executive
Director of PASA, says hopefully, “This year,
the PASA conference will assert the attitude of ‘reclaiming
health’, as opposed to ‘preventing disease,’
as a process that begins every morning on farms all
across the country."
|
