| PROJECT SUMMARY |
A survey conducted by Farming & the Environment and WSU in 2004, indicated that 61% of our State´s farmers believed that direct marketing is an effective way to keep farming profitable. A consumer research survey conducted by Elway Research in 2000, indicated that 70% of our States´s consumers believed that local family farms provided better care of the environment and would be willing to pay more for their products. This translates into a way for farmers to add value to their products when marketed to consumers that care about environmental stewardship.
The Particpants in the project were stewardship farms located in the North/Central Puget Sound Washington region in King,Skagit,Snohomish,and Whatcom Counties (Participant Group 1), and
the North Central Washington region in Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan Counties (Participant Group 2). These farms are using progressive farming practices that consider the long-term health of the land and surrounding habitats.
Farming & the Environment helped farmers reduce risk by providing market based incentives for the stewardship practices used on their farming operations. The objective of this project was to develop an effective busines model to reduce economic risk for stewardship farms by developing direct market channels to consumers who care about the environment, and to develop effective delivery systems whereby regionally organized groups of farmers can pool their resources to reduce costs, directly negotiate a fair wholesale price with local grocery chains and restaurants, and leverage economies of scale. |
| NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 0 |
| TOPICS COVERED |
