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Patterns of fruit and vegetable availability and price competitiveness across four seasons are different in local food outlets and supermarkets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2015

Natalie Valpiani*
Affiliation:
Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Parke Wilde
Affiliation:
Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Beatrice Rogers
Affiliation:
Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, 150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Hayden Stewart
Affiliation:
Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, USA
*
* Corresponding author: Email Natalie.Valpiani@gmail.com
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Abstract

Objective

To explore the effect of seasonality on fruit and vegetable availability and prices across three outlet types (farmers’ markets, roadside stands and conventional supermarkets).

Design

Cross-sectional survey of geographically clustered supermarkets, farmers’ markets and roadside stands. Enumerators recorded the availability and lowest price for eleven fruits and eighteen vegetables in each season of 2011.

Setting

Price data were collected at retail outlets located in central and eastern North Carolina.

Subjects

The sample consisted of thirty-three supermarkets, thirty-four farmers’ markets and twenty-three roadside stands.

Results

Outside the local harvest season, the availability of many fruits and vegetables was substantially lower at farmers’ markets and roadside stands compared with supermarkets. Given sufficient availability, some items were significantly cheaper (P<0·05) at direct retail outlets in the peak season (e.g. cantaloupe cost 36·0 % less at roadside stands than supermarkets), while others were significantly more expensive (e.g. carrots cost 137·9 % more at farmers’ markets than supermarkets). Although small samples limited statistical power in many non-peak comparisons, these results also showed some differences by item: two-thirds of fruits were cheaper at one or both direct outlets in the spring and autumn, whereas five of eighteen vegetables cost more at direct retail year-round.

Conclusions

Commonly consumed fruits and vegetables were more widely available at supermarkets in central and eastern North Carolina than at direct retail outlets, in each season. Contingent on item availability, price competitiveness of the direct retail outlets varied by fruit and vegetable. For many items, the outlets compete on price in more than one season.

Information

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2015 
Figure 0

Table 1 Characteristics of sampled outlets†, by season, central and eastern North Carolina, USA, 2011

Figure 1

Fig. 1 Availability of selected fruits, by outlet (, supermarket (n 33); , farmers’ market (n 34); , roadside stand (n 33)) and season at retail outlets located in central and eastern North Carolina, USA, 2011: (a) apples; (b) oranges; (c) cantaloupe; (d) peaches. †Peak season refers to peak harvest season of the item in North Carolina

Figure 2

Fig. 2 Availability of selected vegetables, by outlet (, supermarket (n 33); , farmers’ market (n 34); , roadside stand (n 33)) and season at retail outlets located in central and eastern North Carolina, USA, 2011: (a) white potatoes; (b) tomatoes; (c) corn; (d) sweet potatoes. †Peak season refers to peak harvest season of the item in North Carolina

Figure 3

Table 2 Percentage by which mean fruit and vegetable prices at direct retail outlets exceed prices at supermarkets in the peak local harvest season, central and eastern North Carolina, USA, 2011†,‡

Figure 4

Table 3 Percentage by which mean fruit and vegetable prices at direct retail outlets exceed prices at supermarkets in non-peak seasons, central and eastern North Carolina, USA, 2011†,‡

Supplementary material: File

Valpian supplementary material

Tables S1-S4

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