Credit: UF/IFAS file
Opinion leaders could be critical in bridging the gap between locally grown food and consumers. That’s important because local food sales totaled $6.1 million in 2012, up $1.3 million in four years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But another study showed only 7.8 percent of U.S. farms targeted local consumers. In this study, UF/IFAS faculty and students recently surveyed 1,023 people across the U.S. to identify which ones were “local food opinion leaders” and assess their roles in the local food movement.