Rising consumer interest in local foods in the Capital District has provided the impetus for a study that will examine its impact on the economy.
This summer an intern, working under the direction of professors from the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, will gather data about the impact and contribution of local food production on the greater Capital District economy including Fulton, Montgomery, Albany, Columbia, Greene Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren and Washington counties.
At the local level, the Cornell Cooperative Extension Capital District Vegetable and Small Fruit Team along with several area CCE educators will assist with the project.
Cornell Cooperative Extension and the student intern, Rosy Cohane-Mann (pictured above), will gather economic data from local farmers that participate in summer and winter farmers markets; community supported agriculture (CSAs); farm stands; wholesale sales including food brokers, restaurants, traditional supermarkets, and produce auctions. This work seeks to describe the effect that local food purchases have on imported food and also describing how local food purchasing enhances additional, unrelated local purchasing.
The economic information gathered will be confidential and individual farmers will not be identified in the study. Analysis of the survey results will be augmented with the help of the Cornell Applied Economics and Management faculty using economic impact planning software to estimate secondary or “multiplier” effects.
