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Abstract:
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In recent years, concerns over the sustainability of current agricultural systems, as well as the social, economic, and environmental benefits of locally produced agriculture, have led to increased support and publicity of local farming. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts many surveys; however, no survey currently focuses directly on the marketing practices of operations that distribute products locally. In 2016, NASS initiated a project with the objective to learn more about this agricultural system. Samples were selected from (1) the NASS sampling frame of potential farms, and (2) a new frame built via advanced web-scraping technology. A survey questionnaire specific to local food marketing practices was distributed to each of the sampled operations. Capture-recapture methodology was used to estimate the total number and sales of local foods operations at the U.S. and state levels. In this study, the capture-recapture estimator used to estimate the population total for agricultural operations that distribute food locally is described. National level results, and challenges from this new study are discussed.
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