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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Vegetable Illiteracy

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  • From: "Mike Emers" <rosie-ck AT mosquitonet.com>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Vegetable Illiteracy
  • Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:48:27 -0900

Hi

We run into this dilemma all the time for both our CSA and at farmers
market. We have taken great pride in providing our customers a wide
selection of produce. But after some reflection at the end of the
season and looking at ways to make our farm more profitable I have to
agree with Alison who said "You can't go wrong giving the customer what
he/she wants". We put out a questionnaire every year for our CSA
members and tallying the results is revealing. We have 4 choices: My
favorites, liked, so-so, and didn't like. Out of 45 surveys returned
(we had 68 members last year), the basics (lettuce, tomatoes, carrots,
potatoes, onions, broccoli, etc.) always received votes in the "my
favorite or likes categories. The "fringe" veggies - kohlrabi, fennel,
rutabagas, salad turnips) received votes from either extreme. Now
sometimes people say they don't like something because they really don't
like it or sometimes it's because they don't know what to do with it.
In either case, we have to give the majority of the people what they
want, which are the basics. This is increasingly true since we are
trying to branch out to other communities outside of our educated and
sophisticated base for our CSA. We will continue to grow stuff that are
new to people (we will not cut out kohlrabi just because a couple of
people don't like it) and provide recipes, but we'll have enough of the
basics so that we make the masses happy.

Mike Emers
Rosie Creek Farm
Ester, Alaska






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