A study of supermarket shoppers by Ohio State University in the US has found that consumers are willing to pay more for produce if it is grown locally.

The investigation, which took place in late 2005 and covered 17 Midwestern locations in the US, looked at consumer trends at seven retail stores, six on-site farm markets and four farmers markets hosting sellers from multiple farms.

The survey presented shoppers with two product options, two baskets of strawberries presented under 80 combinations of price, farm location and farm type.

Marvin Batte, co-author of the study and head of agricultural, environmental and development economics at the university, said: 'This is an indication that certain groups out there value locally produced food and if farmers deliver that, it makes consumers happier, so it's good for them too.'

Additionally, the study indicated that shoppers at farm markets were willing to pay up to twice as much for locally produced foods as retail grocery shoppers.

'Our conclusion is that if a farmer wants to consider producing food for local distribution and marketing it locally, there are people who are willing to pay more for it,' Mr Batt eadded. 'We are not saying that we should be producing all of our foods locally, just that this may be a viable, profitable activity for farmers.'

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