URBAN GROWTH AND FAMILY FARMERS: STRATEGIC RESPONSES (UNITED STATES AGRICULTURE, REGIONAL FOOD PRODUCTION, DIRECT MARKETING, ADAPTIVE FARMING)

Many of the farmers in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States whose operations are located near metropolitan centers face a special set of survival problems generated in large part by urban expansion. Yet, urban expansion also provides opportunities for the continued existence of farming activity. This study is an exploration of the ways in which fruit, vegetable, and nursery growers near Washington, D.C., perceive and adapt to the rapid changes occurring in the region as urban growth pushes outward. During an eighteen-month period, ethnographic methods, including participant observation and in-depth interviews, were used to gather quantitative and qualitative data. From a diverse sample of growers who choose to grow and sell their products locally, five resources were identified as necessary components for agricultural production and distribution. Access to land, capital, labor, technical information, and markets influences each individual farm operation. The adaptive responses within the resource arena of markets and marketing are of particular significance to growers, especially because of the sociocultural context. Recent marketing innovations in direct retail sales, such as pick-your-own, roadside stands, and farmers' markets, are enabling growers to remain in agriculture. At the same time, these marketing strategies (particularly farmers' markets) are providing important social connections between growers who represent an emerging type of agriculture in the region and the region's urban and suburban population. Economically and socially, markets have proven beneficial to growers and consumers alike, bringing them together in a regional food system.