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Population Density and Local Food Market Channels

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  • Jeffrey K. O'Hara
  • Jeffrey Lin

Abstract

We estimate the effect of population density on the use of local food market channels in the United States. Farms with greater market size increase direct sales to consumers, but the spatial scale of this effect operates at shorter distances than previously considered. Local farms do not use distributors to increase production for sales at shorter distances. Our results suggest that technical assistance to increase local food products sold by proximate retail outlets would be more effectively deployed assisting farms that undertake sales directly to retailers instead of marketing products through distributors.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey K. O'Hara & Jeffrey Lin, 2020. "Population Density and Local Food Market Channels," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3), pages 477-496, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:42:y:2020:i:3:p:477-496
    DOI: 10.1093/aepp/ppy040
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    Cited by:

    1. Jeffrey K. O'Hara & Marcelo Castillo & Dawn Thilmany McFadden, 2021. "Do Cottage Food Laws Reduce Barriers to Entry for Food Manufacturers?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 935-951, September.
    2. Timothy Park & Steve Martinez & Mohammed Ibrahim, 2024. "Sales performance of direct food marketers: African American‐led operations," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(1), pages 255-274, March.
    3. Matthew M. Mars, 2022. "Community and Cultural Entrepreneurship and Value Co-Creation in the Local Food Marketscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Jeffrey K. O'Hara & Nony Dutton & Nick Stavely, 2022. "The influence of farmers markets' characteristics on vendor sales," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(2), pages 295-311, April.
    5. Becca B. R. Jablonski & Martha Sullins & Dawn Thilmany McFadden, 2019. "Community-Supported Agriculture Marketing Performance: Results from Pilot Market Channel Assessments in Colorado," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Kumar, Sushant & Murphy, Mikko & Talwar, Shalini & Kaur, Puneet & Dhir, Amandeep, 2021. "What drives brand love and purchase intentions toward the local food distribution system? A study of social media-based REKO (fair consumption) groups," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Jiazheng Shen & Tang Sai Hong & Luxin Fan & Ruixin Zhao & Mohd Khairol Anuar b. Mohd Ariffin & Azizan bin As’arry, 2024. "Development of an Improved GWO Algorithm for Solving Optimal Paths in Complex Vertical Farms with Multi-Robot Multi-Tasking," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-26, August.
    8. Fernianda Rahayu Hermiatin & Yuanita Handayati & Tomy Perdana & Dadan Wardhana, 2022. "Creating Food Value Chain Transformations through Regional Food Hubs: A Review Article," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-24, July.

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