Rebuilding local foods in Appalachia: Variables affecting distribution methods of West Virginia farms

Across the United States, farms are consolidating and fewer individuals earn their sole income from agriculture. At the same time, the number of very small farms—many of which engage in direct-to-consumer sales strategies—is on the rise. While much research has explored issues of size and scale for farms transitioning to organic certification, this study aims to elucidate the variables that predict whether farmers sell directly to consumers or through indirect methods such as food hubs, wholesalers, schools, and other institutions. Using a mailed survey to West Virginian farmers, this research attempted to better understand the similarities and differences between farms that produce specialty crops and animal products geared for local distribution via direct- and non-direct-to-consumer method of distribution. The goal of this research was to highlight variables that may affect the scaling of operations to include distribution methods beyond direct-to-consumer. To this end, a postal survey was sent to a list of West Virginia farmers focused on local distribution: specialty crop and animal producers were the focus of our list development. A total of 219 participants responded to the survey (29.2% response rate). After cleaning the dataset for the current analysis, 190 surveys were deemed useable. Regression analysis of survey data found that farmers selling through only direct-to-consumer strategies were more concerned about how their farming practices affected the environment, the production of high quality foods, and health risks associated with chemical usage; they were also more willing to try new methods than their non-direct counterparts. Additionally, higher levels of economic dependence on items such as costs of credit, loan availability, etc. was also a significant variable in predicting distribution type. Finally, our results indicate that farmers who are distributing food through non-direct means are demographically distinct from their local-only counterparts on a number of measures, including, most critically: educational attainment (−), acres farmed (+), and length of family ownership (+). Taken together, these variables point to access to land and capital as determinants of scale and marketing strategy.