Will Consumers Find Vertically Farmed Produce "Out of Reach"?

While there are arguments for and against vertical farming, whether consumers are even willing to buy vertically farmed produce—an important consideration in the cost-benefit discussion—is rarely discussed. Recent agricultural technologies—such as genetically modified (GM) crops, food irradiation, and nanotechnology—have often been met with consumer skepticism (Frewer et al., 2011; Dannenberg, 2009; Siegrist et al., 2007; Ragaert et al., 2004), so it is unclear how vertical farming will fare with consumers. The overall purpose of our research is to investigate consumers’ perceptions of and willingness to pay (WTP) for produce—specifically, lettuce—grown in a vertical farm production system. Results from this study should provide insight on the potential for consumer acceptance of vertical farming as a new production technology relative to greenhouse and field production systems. This study will also examine the impact of information on perceptions of and WTP for vertically farmed lettuce. - See more at: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/theme-articles/transform...