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Direct Markets in the African American Farming Community: Case Studies

Heather Gray

Summary

Most Black farmers are relatively small vegetable produce farmers. Their marketing ranges from commercial to direct markets. We are finding in our research that many of these farmers enjoy and find profitable the one-on-one relationship with consumers. We are also finding that Black farmers are adjusting to the times and the needs/requests of consumers. All of this presents some challenges in terms of value added production that is constantly an issue for small farmers. We have also found that many of thes farmers will join cooperatives to enhance their market potential. We will share some case studies based on our research.

Details

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