The influence of metropolitan statistical areas on direct-toconsumer agricultural sales of local food in the Northeast

Jeffrey K. O'Hara, Sarah A. Low

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) agricultural sales doubled in the United States between 1992 and 2007 and then plateaued between 2007 and 2012. It is not clear whether the plateau in sales was attributable to the recession, market saturation, an aging population, or other factors. We estimate the influence of socioeconomic factors in metropolitan areas on DTC agricultural sales between 1992 and 2012 in thirteen Northeast states using county-level panel data. We find that the income elasticity of DTC agricultural purchases ranged from 2.2 to 2.7 and that counties in metropolitan areas did not have higher DTC agricultural sales than other counties, ceteris paribus.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)539-562
Number of pages24
JournalAgricultural and Resource Economics Review
Volume45
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Direct-to-consumer agricultural sales
  • Food income elasticity
  • Local food

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Economics and Econometrics

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