ABSTRACT
An emerging agricultural marketing issue is the increased emphasis on the promotion of local food systems that reduce “food miles” and transportation costs while offering consumers the benefits of locally grown food. The American Farmland Trust [1] developed a program for the city of San Francisco to support growing, processing, and consumption of local food (food grown within 100 miles of the Golden Gate Bridge) and claimed that closing the gap between local production and local consumption of food can increase profitability for producers. Agricultural policy makers have suggested that switching to local distribution channels such as farmers’ markets or direct sales may allow producers to achieve higher margins and increase their incomes [2].
