Webinar: Take Your Local Food Online

Local food farmer Katie Nixon is thankful, during this Covid-19 market upheaval, that she and her husband had put time into setting up an online ordering system. It has become critical for marketing the organic fruit, vegetables, and bedding plants they produce at Green Gate Family Farm in Wheatland, Missouri.

The consumer shift to more online shopping during this pandemic is helping to offset Green Gate Farm’s loss of wholesale orders to restaurants and corporate cafeterias while those places are closed. Interest in local foods has also jumped, as consumers consider safety factors. They include fewer hands touching farm-direct foods and the value of having local farms working when the global food supply chain falters, as it has now.

“We’ve gone from an average of six solid online orders every week to now more than 40,” Nixon said.

Nixon was one of seven farms sharing their experience using online sales platforms for the April 15. 2020, webinar Take Your Local Food Online

New Growth and partner West Central Missouri Community Action organized the webinar to help area farms get their online sales going for current needs and future opportunities. Industry analysts expect online grocery shopping will continue beyond the Covid-19 crisis.

Check out the webinar recording on YouTube HERE.

You can also learn more about presenters’ farms, online sales platforms, and other resources through the links below.

PLATFORMS AND PRESENTERS

Woo Commerce — Kat Becker, Cattail FarmsGraze Cart — Remi Keaston, David’s PastureBarn2Door (and Wix store) — Katie Nixon, Green Gate Family FarmSquare — Karin Velez, Wolf Creek Family FarmSquarespace — Alicia Ellingsworth, KC Farm SchoolLocal Food Marketplace — Caroline Pam, Kitchen Garden FarmShopify — Cherie Shenker, Shenker Farm

RESOURCES for further information:
Coronavirus Could Usher in A New Era of Sustainable Local Eating

Could Online Sales Be a Direct Marketing Opportunity for Rural Farms?

Questions for Considering Online Sales Platforms for Farms Direct Marketing

Selling Real Farm Products in a Virtual Marketplace

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