Candace Krebs
The Ag Journal
When Sarah Hamilton, owner of New Roots Farm at Canon City, wanted to start an online store, she turned to a comprehensive report from the National Young Farmers Coalition to help sort through the options.
“I wanted something free or really low cost, because I didn’t anticipate it being a huge part of our sales,” she said during the annual Oklahoma Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference earlier this year. “But I’ve learned there really is a place for online sales in our day and age.”
It’s now been over a year since the first pandemic lockdowns upended the marketplace, but as analysts and researchers continue to monitor the long-term impacts to food and agriculture, one emerging consensus is that online food purchasing has accelerated and will probably remain high in the future.