Browse Items: 85

The opening of the parcels post tunnel, January 1, 1913

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Caption: Mount Middleman is no longer an insurmountable barrier between producer and consumer

Illustration shows that a freight train has departed a railroad station labeled "Producer" in the countryside and is passing through a tunnel labeled "Parcels Post Tunnel" in a mountain labeled "Mount Middleman" that has the figure of a man on its side;…

From Producer to Consumer

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Caption: What the parcels post would mean to them both

Illustration shows two men, one labeled "Producer", using a pulley system labeled "U.S. Parcels Post" to ship a package labeled "Direct to Consumer" beyond the reach of a man labeled "Express Co." straddling a "R.R." station and a man labeled "Middleman" standing in front of a "Commission…

Rural Handicrafts in the United States

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Balancing the pottery cabinet at the opposite or east end of the gallery was an attractive roadside stand designed by members of the Millbrook Garden Club of New York State, who came to Washington to dress it up. The exhibits were kept fresh by daily replacement by one of the men in the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering.…

From Farm to Consumer

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If you have farm products to ship by parcel post to city consumers, or if your name already appears on the Produce List and you desire to list new products, secure one of the blanks from Postmaster Potter, fill it out and return same to him. Your name will be then be published in the list now being compiled. There is a big demand in Chicago for…

Postmasters Praise Parcel Post System For Shipping of Produce

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'Farm to Table' Movement Has Been Success and has Facilitated Handling of Merchandise Everywhere, Declare 200 Men at Convention

If you want to know how the 'farm to the table' movement is progressing ask any of the 800 postmasters here this week.

If you want a particularly enthusiastic response ask Mr. Colin M. Selph, originator of the idea,…

Farmers As Their Own Salesman

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The sale of products off the farm is the first step in marketing. The farmer has a choice of several outlets for his goods. If he sells directly to consumers he may get a good price for his products but he must expend much extra time and effort in selling and he must operate his farm so as to maintain a fairly consistent supply. A variety of local…

USDA National Farmers Market Manager Survey, 2006

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Our latest analysis of the U.S. farmers market industry shows the sector continues to experience brisk growth, but that many newer farmers markets have not yet been able to generate the sales volume enjoyed by older farmers markets, raising questions as to whether current levels of industry growth can be sustained over time. Between the year 2000,…

Results of Dot Survey: USDA Outdoor Farmers Market, Washington, DC.

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This report presents an analysis of responses obtained from visitors to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) outdoor farmers market at 12th and Independence Avenue, SW, in Washington, D.C. during two market days, September 10 and 17, 2010. The Rapid Market Assessment, also known as the dot survey, was carried out to assess the…

Defining Local: How Does Your District Define Local?

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USDA distributed the Farm to School Census (the Census) to 13,133 public school districts in the United States, 9,887 of which completed the Census. 4,322 districts operating approximately 40,328 schools with 23,513,237 students in attendance are bringing the farm to school.

Generally the information presented below is derived from only those…

Farmers Boost Postal Receipts

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Growth of the farm-to-table service by parcel post is recorded in reports from the postmasters of the principals cities in which the service has been installed.

The results are said to be gratifying in the large centers of population where the need for additional facilities of obtaining fresh country produce is greatest. In practically all the…

Parcel Post Wagon in New Bedford, Massachusetts

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A postal employee posed with this brand new parcel post wagon in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Parcel Post Service began on January 1, 1913.

Suggestions for Parcel Post Marketing

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This bulletin contains information and suggestions for persons desiring to sell or buy produce by parcel post. A great deal of marketing has been and is now being done by this method. Many persons, however, are only partially informed or perhaps entirely unaware of the requirements necessary to market farm produce successfully in this manner. An…

Consumer Preference for Locally Grown Produce: An Analysis of Willingness-To-Pay and Geographic Scale

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This study examines consumers' willingness-to-pay for locally grown fresh produce under five definitions of "local," including a generic term "locally grown" and four geographic intervals: multistate, state, regional, and county. A survey of 482 area residents in Evansville, Indiana, was conducted to examine how estimated price premiums vary with…

Local Meat and Poultry Processing: The Importance of Business Commitments for Long-Term Viability

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Consumer demand for local food, including local meat and poultry, has risen in recent years. To sell meat, farmers need access to appropriately scaled processing facilities with the skills, inspection status, and reliability to prepare these products safely, legally, and to customer specifications. This report explores this multi-faceted problem…

Just What Does Local Mean?

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Food that is locally produced, marketed, and consumed—termed “local food”—is not a particularly new concept in the U.S. food system. Local food and its proponents have origins in the “Slow Food” movement and organic agriculture, and it is common to hear arguments for a relocalization of the food system. Yet recent interest in local food suggests…

Farm to Table by Post

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Butter and lard form two of the chief articles of food sent by means of the parcel post under the farm-to-table or producer-to-consumer plan inaugurated by the Postoffice Department last spring. It has been planned to bring the farmers in the outlying districts of large cities in close touch with the people; and so far the results obtained leave…

Benton Harbor, MI (1940)

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View full record for details.

Washington, D.C. (2014)

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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Nutrition Service (FNS) Administrator Audrey Rowe views the healthy offerings provided at a local farmers market.

San Francisco, CA (2013)

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A farmer’s market patron enjoys orange samples and talks to the vendor at a San Francisco, CA area market. The new Farmers Market API released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will give app developers and designers an easier way to leverage the wealth of information in USDA’s National Farmers…