One of the Local Food Research Center’s long-term research projects aims to evaluate how consumer values and behaviors impact the characteristics of local food systems and determine whether consumer demand can change that system (e.g., increase sustainable production, change policy, decrease obesity, increase heath, and modify food distribution).
The LFRC gauges these changes through surveys of consumers, farmers, and community decision makers. Using ethnographic research methods (e.g., surveys, interviews, observations), the LFRC evaluates changes in consumer values and purchasing practices, changes in farm profitability and production practices, market demand and marketing practices, and changes in public health and public policy.