Fresh, From Our Family to Yours: Direct Marketing Education for Producers

View the project final report

• 2005 annual report
• 2006 annual report

Commodities

• Fruits: citrus
• Vegetables: cucurbits
• Animals: bovine, poultry
• Animal Products: eggs, meat

Practices

• Education and Training: demonstration, display, farmer to farmer, networking
• Farm Business Management: cooperatives, marketing management, market study
• Sustainable Communities: employment opportunities

This project provided Placer County producers with education and resources to identify, address and cultivate new markets. Project activities provided farmers with the resources to develop new marketing channels, increase promotional efforts and build relationships with the local community. The goals for this project were to increase farm sales and annual sales at the farmers’ markets by 20-25 percent, sell local produce to at least two school districts in the county, market to at least ten local restaurants, double the number of CSAs, and sell produce to at least one large institution such as a hospital or community college.

• Generate descriptive list and annotated bibliography of new marketing opportunities for Placer County farmers and ranchers
• Develop and conduct 100-150 producer and consumer surveys
• Showcase innovative and successful marketing ideas and models at the PlacerGROWN Farm Conference
• Conduct an opening retreat for producers to generate and prioritize ideas for expanding direct marketing opportunities
• Perform research on available resource materials for workshop development
• Organize four farmer-to-farmer networking meetings annually to promote relationship building and develop project collaborations
• Design and deliver eight in-depth marketing workshops for producers on how to meet the needs and requirements of consumers and produce buyers and monitor impact
• Design, test and update, and utilize program evaluation measures
• Produce and disseminate Report of Findings