Carolyn Dimitri

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at New York University

The US organic milk food system has several interesting characteristics. The product has been enthusiastically embraced by consumers, resulting in increased retail sales of organic milk. The processing sector is oligopolistic, with three dominant firms. At the farm level, the definition and enforcement of regulations relating to access to pasture a...

The Healthy Savings Program, as piloted in New York City, provided up to $10 a week discount for items in the produce department of participating supermarkets. A total of 673 individuals enrolled in a six month pre- and post-study. Those who used Healthy Savings most often were seniors, weekly shoppers, or used food pantries. Obstacles to using the...

In the USA, conservation and monitoring of biodiversity on organic farms have been poorly enforced, leading to the suggestion of explicitly addressing biodiversity through the organic system plan. We use primary data to examine the efficacy of this approach. We find that that farmers reporting using no-till farming, cover crops, and buffer strips o...

Certified organic handling firms, situated between the farm and the consumer along the supply chain, rely on a predictable supply of organic ingredients and commodities to meet consumer demand for organic food. Yet organic firms often incur high transaction costs related to locating certified organic products. The transaction costs may be one reaso...

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This paper uses network analysis to study the geo-localization decisions of new organic dairy farm operations in the USA between 2002 and 2015. Given a dataset of organic dairy certifications we simulated spatio-temporal networks based on the location of existing and new organic dairy farming operations. The simulations were performed with differen...

Purpose Since the implementation of the National Organic Program in 2002, the US organic market has grown in both scale and scope, consequently placing pressure on the organic supply chain. The crucial role of matching consumer demand for final products with farm-level production falls to certified organic handlers, the intermediary firms that proc...

Intermediated markets account for two-thirds of local sales and are slowly gaining more attention. These marketing channels generally include all opportunities in the local supply chain that are not direct-to-consumer transactions, including sales to grocery stores, restaurants, regional aggregators such as food hubs, as well as schools, universiti...

Nearly two decades into the 21st century, we revisit the topic of changes in the US agricultural system. We focus on trends in structure, technology and policy, and on the increasing influence of consumer preferences on this system, particularly for organic agriculture and local and regional foods. We examine technological innovations in the 21st c...

Intermediated markets are relatively new market channels that have the potential to expand local and regional food systems while increasing the viability of small- and medium-sized farms. The intermediated channels comprise a short supply chain linking farmers with consumers through the use of intermediary such as a distributor or supermarket. In m...

The local food movement has grown significantly over the past several years, producing and marketing fresh fruits and vegetables, and meat and dairy. Recently there has been a push in the Northeastern U.S. to grow small grains, primarily high-protein wheat varieties for baking bread and for malting barley for brewing and distilling, for local and r...

The urban food system addressed here centers on urban food processing, distribution and consumption (including food packaging and waste disposal) and as such addresses how food moves from processing and distribution centers to points of consumption and ultimately waste disposal within cities. The Food-Energy-Water Systems (FEWS) Nexus extends to an...

Retail sales of organic food products have been increasing faster than any other category of food and have penetrated mainstream retail grocery outlets. The majority of the literature on organic markets explores the socioeconomic characteristics of consumers, linking these traits to the probability of buying organic food, and it suggests that acces...

Purpose – Urban farming is becoming more common in the USA, as food-based entrepreneurs seek to make money farming in the city. Yet many urban farms are concerned with other factors in addition to food production, and thus have incorporated social goals into their missions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the social missions of urban farms...

This paper presents relationships among food, energy, and water (FEW) systems, reflecting the interconnections among the energy/water, water/energy, water/food, and energy/food sectors. First, a unique approach uses metrics and quantification to reflect interdependencies among these sectors. Next, changes in food technology and practices are put fo...

The use of nutrition incentives in conjunction with federal nutrition benefits is intended in part to improve the diet of low-income consumers. The new program created by the U.S. Agricultural Act of 2014 is similar to the nutrition incentives that have been operated by select nonprofits and cities since the early part of the 2010s. The nutrition i...

As the finishing touches go on this themed issue, evidence of widespread enthusiasm for urban farming is apparent in many developed countries. Farming in the city, commonly referred to as urban agriculture, has been put forth as a solution to multiple social problems, including the provision of new green spaces, control of runoff and provision of s...

Enhancing the diet quality of economically disadvantaged households in the United States has long been a policy goal. Recently, select local governments and nonprofit organizations have augmented federal policy by offering federal nutrition beneficiaries vouchers, for use at farmers markets, to match their expenditures at the market. Such incentive...

U.S. food retailing is a competitive sector that has undergone rapid changes. The U.S. market for organic products has expanded rapidly over the last decade, while local foods have become a more visible marketing strategy. Studies focusing on the marketing of these products by retailers are sparse and generally qualitative. This article is the firs...

Urban agriculture, a current trend in many US cities, is purported to bring enhanced food security, reduction of food waste, community building, open green space in cities and higher property values. However, the literature lacks an understanding of whether urban farming has extended beyond a compelling concept into the practice of farming in the c...

Based on a survey of U.S. food retailers, our study finds that almost one third of U.S. food retailers charge slotting fees for certified organic food products, a retailing area where slotting fees had not previously been well documented. Econometric results from both ordered response and binary response models suggest that a number of firm-level a...

Urban agriculture offers potential benefits to urban areas and has captured the attention of residents and policymakers. Some challenges of urban agriculture are unique to the urban setting, and many farmers do not receive adequate technical assistance. Based on a national survey of urban farmers and interviews, this article explores the challenges...

Consumers living in food deserts lack geographic access to food; those same consumers are often low-income and thus face additional constraints to purchasing foods. New programs address the geographic and financial aspects of food access. One program, administered by Wholesome Wave, pairs financial incentives and healthy food purchases. Analysis of...

Over the past decade, organic food sales and farmland have grown rapidly worldwide. As the US market for organic food has expanded, anecdotal evidence indicates that imports of organic food have increased. US organic handlers may be importing to meet consumer demand for out-of-season products, as well as products not grown domestically. Handlers ma...

Introduction: Farmers markets have recently attracted a great deal of attention for their potential to provide consumers in rural and urban food deserts with fresh fruits and vegetables. Incentive programs targeting federal nutrition benefit customers at markets seek to address the problems of access and affordability for these consumers, and enhan...

Purpose The organic trade literature in the USA makes strong claims about the relationship between income, ethnicity, and other factors and the likelihood of purchasing organic food products. However, previous economic research focusing on the socio‐economic characteristics of organic food consumers yields mixed findings. One explanation for the li...

The number of farmers' markets in the United States has increased rapidly over the last 20 years. They have begun to attract a great deal of attention for their potential to provide consumers in rural and urban "food deserts" with fresh fruits and vegetables. Incentive programs targeting federal nutrition benefit customers at farmers' markets are n...

Increasing access to food and improving the sustainability of producing and marketing food are both goals of the "food movement." One problem embedded in these dual goals is that improving access relies on low-priced food, while increasing sustainability of the food system necessarily raises prices. Further complicating the discussion is the fact t...

This article describes results from a study examining the supply chain for local foods in Maryland school meals, the barriers and opportunities for increasing local foods in schools, and the development of Extension efforts to meet the needs identified. Interviews and surveys were administered with stakeholders, including farmers and food service d...

The relationship between food access, income, and public health has been a focus of scholars and policymakers for many years now. At the most basic level, researchers have provided strong evidence regarding the existence of food deserts, as well as a positive correlation between poverty and food deserts. Many initiatives by private foundations and...

Food industry experts and even casual supermarket shoppers are likely aware of several prominent trends centering on organic foods. On-camera intercept interviews showed that shoppers leaving the retailer were surprised to learn that PL frozen vegetables and other PL products originated in China or other countries. The total level of imported organ...

Labels can convey information about the production and distribution of food, particularly for organic food and local food. The organic label addresses how food is produced, processed and distributed while the local label provides information about the distance between production and point of sale. The body of anecdotal evidence indicates there is a...

Organic food products are excellent candidates for contract production and marketing because they are produced using a distinct process and are in high demand. This report summarizes survey data on contracting in the organic sector, addressing the extent of contracting, the rationale for using contracts, and contract design for select commodities....

The Organic Farming Research Foundation has commissioned a comprehensive review of U.S., Canadian, and European scientific literature on the environmental and social impacts of organic agriculture, including economic impacts on farms and society as a whole. In place of the simplistic notion that agriculture only produces the world’s food and fiber...

The notion of industrialized agriculture has been a dominant theme in the applied economics literature. More recently, the debate has entered the realm of organic agriculture, with some suggesting that the organic sector has strayed from its agrarian roots. The terms “industrial†and “agrarian†are widely used, yet few have given precise defi...

Along with others, we recognize the impact of human action on environmental quality. At the same time, we note that businesses have entered the ‘green market’. The goal of this paper is to open a discussion about green marketing. We raise questions regarding how firm governance impacts the ability of firms to incorporate environmental objectives in...

The organic food market is currently the fastest growing food sector in the United States, with growth rates in organic food sales averaging 17% per year between 1998 and 2006. The largest segment within the organic market is fresh produce, comprising 34% percent of retail sales in 2006. This analysis focuses on identifying the demographic characte...

Using Nielsen Homescan data set from 52 markets in the United States, this paper assesses the price interactions among the four fluid milk categories (organic private label, organic national brand, non-organic private label and non-organic national brand), how demographic variables and product properties in a market affect milk prices, and the impa...

Periodic shortfalls of organic food have been commonplace in the USA. Shortages, created when demand grows faster than supply, have been exacerbated by relatively slow growth of certified organic farmland (in comparison to growth in retail sales) over the past decade. Organic intermediaries, referred to as handlers in the US national organic standa...

The decision to write contracts for production of commodities can be framed as an institutional response to changing industry and market conditions. When innovations increase available rents to technology owners (or technology appropriators), contracts can replace cash market transactions even though contracts carry higher transaction costs. We pro...

This paper investigates the certified organic handler sector, a specialized component of the middle part of the farm-to-table marketing chain, and documents the impacts of firm agglomeration (or firm clusters) on firm-level performance or firm-level decisions. After accounting for endogeneity in firm clustering, our findings confirm that firm clust...

We use a two-stage, sample selection model to investigate organic milk purchases using Neilsen’s Homescan data. In the first stage, households decide on a weekly basis to buy mainly organic milk or non-organic milk. Results from this stage show that higher income, better education, having children at home, and several other demographic and marketin...

Consumer demand for organic products has widened over the last decade. While new producers have emerged to help meet demand, market participants report that a supply squeeze is constraining growth for both individual firms and the organic sector overall. Partly in response to shortages in organic supply, Congress in 2008 included provisions in the...

Organic foods now occupy prominent shelf space in the produce and dairy aisles of most mainstream U.S. food retailers. The marketing boom has pushed retail sales of organic foods up to $21.1 billion in 2008 from $3.6 billion in 1997. U.S. organic-industry growth is evident in an expanding number of retailers selling a wider variety of foods, the de...

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Sales of organic food have soared over the past decade. Although nearly all organic commodities pass through the hands of at least one intermediary on the way from the farmer to the consumer, there is a dearth of literature examining organic food marketing, especially for the middle section of the supply chain. This paper uses new survey data on or...

The organic sector has expanded rapidly over the last decade, as retail sales of organic food increased to $15.7 billion in 2006. As sales have grown, so have the number and types of outlets selling organic products. USDA’s Economic Research Service surveyed certified organic intermediaries in the United States to collect information on basic chara...

Local organic food is garnering new interest. Using new data from a national survey of certified organic intermediaries, we examine local markets for organic food and assess which firms are likely to market locally. Approximately 25% of survey respondents primarily market their products locally, and 15% of the value of organic food (at the intermed...

Considering the agricultural contracts, a systematic data collection is believed that can help to build further knowledge and can support more specific research projects as need. There is no viable alternative for learning about the nature and importance of contracting in agriculture. However, collecting data from individual firms contracting parti...

The organic market sector is one of the fastest growing food sectors in the United States with growth rates in organic food sales averaging 18% per year between 1998 and 2005. The largest segment within the organic market is fresh produce, comprising 36% of retail sales in 2005. To date, no published studies utilize consumer purchase information to...

The material herein contained is supplementary to the article name in the title and published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 89, Number 5, December 2007.

Grades and inspections govern the marketing of agricultural commodities. Federal legislation created the marketing institutions, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when national markets were emerging. Three commodities - fresh produce (fruit and vegetables), grains, and meat - all rely on similar institutions, suggesting they serve a simila...

When the automobile was developed near the beginning of the last century, it was the relatively new fuel gasoline, not the familiar ethanol that became the fuel of choice. We examine the intersections of the early development of the automobile and the petroleum industry and consider the state of the agriculture sector during the same period. Throug...

Market growth in the US organic sector has been dramatic since the mid-1990s. Much of this growth was made possible by rapidly increasing consumer interest, which fostered new market opportunities for organic food producers, retailers, and distributors. Market distribution networks have changed character as organic and conventional firms have joine...

Consumer interest in organic milk has burgeoned, resulting in rapid growth in retail sales of organic milk. New analysis of scanner data from 2004 finds that most purchasers of organic milk are White, high income, and well educated. The data indicate that organic milk carries the USDA organic seal about 60 percent of the time, most organic milk is...

Organic farmland and sales are rapidly growing worldwide, and the two largest markets are in the European Union (EU) and the United States. The two regions have adopted different policy approaches to organic agriculture. Many EU countries have "green payments" available for transitioning and continuing organic farmers, as well as a variety of other...

Fresh fruits and vegetables have long been an important component of the organic food sector. Price premiums for organic products have contributed to growth in certified organic farmland and, ultimately, market expansion. This report examines trends in organic prices and market margins for broc- coli, carrots, and mesclun mix. The data show that, w...

This paper analyses how farm access to credit affects farm input allocation and farm efficiency in the CEE transition countries. Drawing on a unique farm level panel data with 37,409 observations and employing a matching estimator we are able to control for the key source of endogeneity – unoberserved heterogeneity. We find that farms are credit co...

Production and marketing contracts govern 36 percent of the value of U.S. agricultural production, up from 12 percent in 1969. Contracts are now the primary method of handling sales of many livestock commodities, including milk, hogs, and broilers, and of major crops such as sugar beets, fruit, and processing tomatoes. Use of contracts is closely r...

Every Farm a Factory: The Industrial Ideal in American Agriculture. By Deborah Fitzgerald. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 2003. Pp. ix, 241. $45.00 - - Volume 63 Issue 4 - CAROLYN DIMITRI

U.S. agriculture underwent a tremendous transformation during the 20th century—the structure of farming and rural life today barely resembles that of the early 1900s. A comparison of six basic agricultural indicators across the century reveals a dramatic transformation of the U.S. agricultural sector. Snapshots of five points in time—1900, as t...

Production and marketing contracts govern 36 percent of the value of U.S. agricultural production, up from 12 percent in 1969. Contracts are now the primary method of handling sales of many livestock commodities, including milk, hogs, and broilers, and of major crops such as sugar beets, fruit, and processing tomatoes. Use of contracts is closely r...

With meticulous detail, Bruce Gardner provides insight into the evolution of U.S. agriculture over the 100-year period between 1900 and 2000. In doing so, Gardner reflects on several facets of agriculture, such as innovation, on-farm productivity, the declining number of farms, the income status of U.S. farmers, and the role of government agricultu...

Retail consolidation, technological change in production and marketing, and growing consumer demand for produce have altered the traditional market relationships between producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Increasingly, produce suppliers are asked to provide additional marketing services and incentives in exchange for volume purchases and other...

Contracting is the new mode of selling U.S. grown flue-cured tobacco. In 2002, 79 per- cent of flue-cured tobacco was sold under contract; just 4 years earlier, tobacco contracts had not been used at all. The rapid shift to contracts was prompted by one cigarette com- pany, which stated that tobacco sold in the auction market did not satisfy its qu...

The quality of many goods and services may change randomly between the time of shipment and delivery, creating disputes over quality that can result in lemons-market equilibria. We investigate the potential of third-party inspections for such inefficiencies. We consider two types of inspection, ex post verification of quality in consignment contrac...

Organic farming is one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture. As consumer interest continues to gather momentum, many U.S. producers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are specializing in growing, processing, and marketing an ever-widening array of organic agricultural and food products. This report summarizes growth patterns...

The quality of many goods and services may change randomly between the time of shipment and delivery, creating disputes over quality that can result in lemons-market equilibria. We investigate the potential of third-party inspections for such inefficiencies. We consider two types of inspection, ex post verification of quality in consignment contrac...

Between 1890 and 1930, the development of refrigerated rail transportation enabled a national U.S. apple industry to emerge. Apples were shipped over long distances, and sold in the terminal market on consignment or FOB, or in the auction market. There were frequent disputes over quality, caused by the long distances between buyers and sellers, the...

Dr. Jon Lauck s book focuses on the problem of monopoly in grain-belt states from 1953 to 1980; in doing so, he analyzes a long-standing conflict that has touched the entire agricultural sector during the entire twentieth century. The late-nineteenth-century shift from small-scale farms, spread across the nation, to regional specialization in produ...

The use of contracts for producing and marketing agricultural commodities has become nearly universal in some sectors. Two factors are most frequently cited as being responsible for the use of agricultural contracts. The first, a demand-side factor, is the development of strong consumer preferences for specific qualities. The second, a supply-side...

In the past year, trade practices between fresh produce shippers and food retailers gained national attention. Shippers are concerned that recent retail consolidation has led to market power and the growing incidence of fees and services. Retailers argue that these new trade practices reflect their costs of doing business and the demands of consume...

Many goods and services are subject to random changes in quality during the time between sale and delivery, resulting in markets characterized by lemons-market equilibria. We examine two forms of costly verification, ex post inspection and ex ante certification. In equilibrium, ex post verification is used to verify buyers’ reports of low qualit...

Consumer demand for organic products has widened over the last decade. While new producers have emerged to help meet demand, market participants report that a supply squeeze is constraining growth for both individual fi rms and the organic sector overall. Partly in response to shortages in organic supply, Congress in 2008 included provisions in the...

Rapid growth in the organic foods market has placed great pressure on farmers and handlers in the U.S. organic sector. Handlers are firms that produce, process, and distribute organic food. As the middlemen in the supply chain, organic handlers have been unable at times to provide as much of their final product as the market wants and have also fou...