SXSW 2012 - E-Commerce: Cultivating Links Between Local Farmers and Consumers

E-Commerce: Cultivating Links Between Local Farmers and Consumers
Event	SXSW Interactive 2009
Format	Panel
Organizer	Andrew Smiley – Sustainable Food Center
Description	Austin's Farm to Work initiative allows employees to place online orders and receive delivery of locally-grown produce at their worksite. Project creators will explore web-based solutions that meet the needs of a state agency, a nonprofit organization, employees, and farmers while applying appropriate technology for implementation, administration, evaluation, and expansion.
Questions Answered	What is Farm To Work (FTW)? Is there a market for locally grown organic produce where you are? Why would a farmer prefer a pre-sold system through the net? How can technology reduce the barriers between farmers and consumer? How will Farm to Work expand, and what will that mean for the Net application? What makes good project partners? How can you customize software to address common customer errors and handle customer support when staff resources are limited? How do you build capacity for expansion into the software design? What are some rules of thumb with processing credit cards online. Is it really hard to label properly? (And other questions from customers nice and not so nice)
Level	Beginner
Category	Human / Social Issues

E-Commerce: Cultivating Links Between Local Farmers and Consumers