Mandarin Festival Local Food Dot Survey Results

The Mountain Mandarin Festival wrapped up on Sunday, amidst sun and happy shoppers.  Though it rained like heck on Saturday, the Festival nevertheless saw a tremendous turnout.  Overall, the Festival was a huge success.

At the UCCE booth, we held tastings of PlacerGrown fruit, and conducted a simple Local Food Dot Survey.  The shoppers leapt at the chance to taste Fuyu persimmons, Fuji apples, Yali and Okusankicki Pears. 

There were over 300 responses for The Dot Survey, which yielded insightful results.  Full results can be seen on the table below, but here are some of the more thought-provoking highlights:

-          52.9% of respondents answered that they purchased locally grown fruits and veggies weekly.

-          49.2% of respondents answered that they purchased these fruits and veggies at a farmers’ market.

-          47.7% cited convenience as the main factor keeping them from purchasing more locally grown fruits and veggies

-          47.7% defined “local” as “From my county and adjacent counties.”

One main point to keep in mind is that the shoppers at the Mountain Mandarin Festival likely do not represent shoppers in general.  Consider that this festival is billed around locally grown mandarins, add in the non-stop rain on Saturday, and we can surmise that these shoppers are more likely than most to purchase locally grown products.  This is evidenced by the fact that 52.9% said they purchased locally grown fruits and veggies weekly, and 49.2% responded that they purchased these fruits and veggies at a farmers’ market. 

That said, 47.7% still responded that convenience (or lack thereof) was the major factor keeping them from purchasing more locally grown fruits and vegetables.  Based on these results, ease-of-access is paramount to growing the local food movement.  Armed with this data, we will need to consider how to make local food, and the markets that offer it, more readily accessible and convenient. 

One of the more interesting insights cannot be extrapolated from the data on the table.  While speaking with people over the weekend, we noticed that some shoppers believe that any food purchased at a local grocery store (such as Briar Patch Co-op) is “local”.  For instance, one respondent told me that she only purchased locally produced fruits and veggies.  I then asked her if she ate bananas.  She replied that she did.  I then pointed out that bananas are not grown locally, but she countered that they are from Briar Patch.  This was one example of confusion between “locally grown fruits and veggies”, and a “local grocery store.”  I do not know how prevalent this confusion is in our society, but it is something to consider.   The other side of the coin would be that it does not matter, and that as long as people are shopping at a store like Briar Patch, they are inevitably going to run into local produce, so we should not discourage those types of shopping habits. 

All in all, the Local Food Dot Survey gave insight into what we can do to make sure that, in the future, more people are making weekly purchases of locally grown fruits and vegetables.

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