1. Educate residents about local foods and organic foods, especially focusing on their consumer health, cost-effectiveness for the consumer, and economic impact on the local economy. Experts suggested there are many misconceptions about what the differences are between local and organic foods, the costs to consumers health and to their budgets. Having informational materials about this would be beneficial to Hartford residents. Additionally, our survey on the factors that residents consider when making food choices shows us that residents care deeply about the nutritional value and cost of their food, but said they are not likely to consider whether the food is locally grown or not. This shows us there is a disconnect between residents and the facts of eating locally because good nutrition and lower cost are factors that come with eating locally.
2. Marketing campaigns for local foods should be spread through various methods including in-person advertising at farmers’ markets and community events, through hard copy materials such as flyers, posters and newspaper ads, and even through online websites, which is good for various food and cooking recipes. Whether this is our Twitter feed or some other form of communication, someplace where residents can see what is available on any given day/location is crucial to the success of farmers markets. Including a map of all farmers markets would be helpful to Hartford residents as well. Startup initiatives for these internet platforms can be found on our internet initiatives page.
3. Combine farmers markets in Hartford to increase the number of vendor attendance as well as the variety of options at each market, and make these markets more of a “one-stop shop” for residents to complete their shopping.
4. Create marketing materials that are colorful and eye-catching, clear and concise, and include certain visualization tools, such as a map that gives residents explicit access to the knowledge about where they can shop locally. It is beneficial to include data, visualizations, and maps that are centered around Hartford and relevant to Hartford residents rather than general information.