Identifying Factors Influencing A Hospital'S Decision To Adopt A Farm-To-Hospital Program

Abstract

Research on the adoption of Farm-to-Hospital programs is extremely limited in the agricultural and applied economics literature. Based on a survey conducted of Hospital Food and Nutrition Services Directors in the Northeast (New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and New Jersey) region of the United States and USDA's ERS Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America, this thesis estimates a logit model to determine the factors that influence hospital food service directors' decision to adopt a farm-to-hospital program. A Farm-to-Hospital program is the linkage of locally produced fresh foods between hospitals/healthcare facilities and farms that are incorporated in patient meals. This thesis also provides insight into the current perceptions, challenges and barriers of these directors in the procurement of local foods. Among the explanatory variables, it is found that the Healthy Food in the Healthcare Pledge, the amount of meals prepared daily at a hospital, the percent of farms participating in Community Supported Agriculture, and a hospital's county classification have the greatest impact on influencing a hospital's decision to adopt a farm-to-hospital program. Most FTH programs are in hospitals located in counties in or near metropolitan areas.