2003 Annual Report for FS03-162
Oklahoma Farm Direct Retail Market Project
Summary
A problem that farmers using sustainable agricultural practices face is that their products become mixed with other less sustainably grown products when they sell to wholesalers. This makes it impossible for consumers to choose the sustainably grown products when they want them. Farmers markets are a way for consumers to select the products they want. But, farmers markets typically don’t offer the advantages of pooled transportation and diverse choices. They also often have short seasons, suffer from inclement weather, sometimes less than ideal locations and ephemeral customer buying schedules.
This producer organization has already obtained the use of an operational grocery store in Oklahoma City that will be available to all sustainable agriculture operations in Oklahoma. They will produce a market study that will discuss obstacles they encounter (e.g. regulatory and economic challenges). They will develop a start up manual that will be useful in future horizontal retailing ventures. Copies of this manual and a CD will be made available, when the project is completed, to those who are interested in pursuing an operation like this in their region.
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