An examination of adaptations of direct marketing channels and practices by Maryland fruit and vegetable farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Main Authors: Grace Bachman, Sara Lupolt, Mariya Strauss, Ryan Kennedy, Keeve Nachman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems 2021-09-01
• Series: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
• Subjects: COVID-19; Local Food Systems; Resilience; Direct-to-Consumer (DTC); Marketing; Response Diversity
• Online Access: https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1021

This study explores the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Maryland stay-at-home order on fruit and vegetable farmers in Maryland. Focusing on farms’ direct-to-consumer marketing channels, we aim to characterize the diversity of farm responses and identify practices that facilitated adaptation. This research is grounded in the socio-ecological systems framework, which emphasizes the interconnection between social and ecological systems and characterizes the dual-driving forces that impact food producers and their livelihood. The study team conducted interviews with 20 Maryland farm owners/managers who grow and sell produce. The semistructured interviews includ­ed questions relating to production practices, sales and marketing, and resilience. The interviewer fol­lowed up with probes to understand the dimen­sions of response diversity and adaptive capacity. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and responses were analyzed using the framework approach. In the context of a global pandemic, community supported agriculture (CSA), farmers markets, and pick-your-own channels provided a high degree of stability and financial security. No farmer reported relying solely on intermediated markets (e.g., restaurants, grocery stores, institu­tions). Distribution channels that incorporated an online marketplace offering prepacked pre-orders were a notable strength of highly adaptive Mary­land produce farmers. Farmers reported that expanding established CSAs was an important method for reallocating produce originally intended to be sold to reduced/terminated marketing chan­nels. Common challenges among farmers included increased administrative workload, concerns asso­ciated with raising food prices during a crisis, and environmental concerns about the use of additional packaging. We describe a range of adaptive behav­iors that aided farmers in withstanding shocks.