Confidence and uncertainty: Small-scale, direct-marketing vegetable farmers’ relationship with climate change adaptation and mitigation

Abstract

Agricultural production is simultaneously vulnerable to climate change and a major producer of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. Interest in climate-smart agriculture – practices that help farmers both adapt to and mitigate their contributions towards climate change – continues to grow, yet in the U.S. small-scale vegetable producers remain understudied and underserved by evidence-based practices relevant to their business model and scale. To address this gap, we interviewed owner/operators of small vegetable farms selling at farmers markets in King County, Washington about their farm priorities, production practices, available resources, and marketing strategies. Farmers in this study often oriented their business priorities around values of environmental stewardship and community food access. They were aware of climate risks and adaptation measures and largely confident in their abilities to adapt. With few exceptions, participants expressed uncertainty about how farms might be contributing to climate change or what practices they could implement to help mitigate climate change but were interested in resources and education. Participants did not view potential price premiums as a compelling incentive to adopt new practices, instead emphasizing the importance of their farm businesses’ overarching narrative in customer relationships and marketing. These results expand the knowledge base on how different agricultural sectors are thinking about climate change and can be used to motivate research on tailored mitigation practices as well as educational and marketing resources to support sales and consumer demand for climate-smart produce.