USA. Utility freezers back?

In the city of Ithaca, New York, figured out how to increase profits of farmers and consumers to save money on the purchase of meat.

one time, up to the 60s , before the household freezers are available to the majority of households in the U.S. have been the so-called communal freezers . Had sunk into oblivion social realities can come back again , brought to life by other causes.

Matt Leroux , a specialist agricultural marketing and Kerry Bartlett Cornell Center for Development Cooperation, decided to find ways to reduce the direct products of the farmer and the buyer ? The pilot project "Meat closet » (Meat Locker) is one of them . Two freezer section

10H14 feet each , divided into individual cells , which will be located in downtown Ithaca and the surrounding towns, will provide consumers with a convenient place for the bulk storage of meat , saving consumers money at the same time , expanding the market of meat and increasing the income of farmers. Inspirers of the project are communal freezers that were popular until the 1960 's when families began to acquire personal freezers and meat were buying in the grocery stores .

Users will pay three to five dollars a month by renting one of 50 refrigerated cabinets , and they will have access to their lockers during designated hours . Farmers do not have to pay for access to the system, consumers can choose to buy any meat from the farmers. Leroux hopes the project "Meat Wardrobe" will encourage consumers to buy local meats , thereby expanding the market for local products .

Leroux conducted marketing research channel efficiency ( sales , ed.) for vegetable farms, farmers began to ask if he could do a similar analysis for livestock. As a result of research funded by grants of the Ministry of Agriculture (Research on Sustainable Agriculture and Education), have shown that this method of direct selling is beneficial to farmers and saves consumers money . This allows farmers to sell meat up in commodity prices , as direct marketing, allowing farmers to bypass unnecessary link in the form of auctions or slaughterhouses and sell immediately at a retail price . Implementation of the project "Meat closet " reduces the need for time-consuming inventory management , and significantly reduces the time needed by farmers for meat sales , compared with farmers' markets. Direct sale of meat through the freezer helps buyers buy local meat at wholesale price cheaper than at the grocery store.

Research Leroux and Bartlett found that consumers want to buy more local meat in bulk , but do not do so because of cost constraints and lack of storage . Farmers - they want to sell more meat directly to consumers , do not know how to find more customers. "We felt like we could solve these issues with the project Locker Meat», - says Leroux . - "If you solve this problem , we will have a new group of consumers buying local meats that have never done this before." He hopes the project will serve as a model for other communities seeking to develop its meat markets . Incentive program will cost 80,000 dollars , the grant will cover most of the cost of the project "Meat closet ", although an additional $ 20,000 for necessary maintenance.