KarunaNews Story

COVID and inflation made fresh fruit and vegetables harder for many to access. Farms offering produce based on what people can pay have played an increasingly important role in keeping communities around the country healthy. This article in Civil Eats features farms in Washington D.C., San Diego, California, and Ferguson, Missouri, all of which are operating on the pay-what-you-can model. The model of pay-what-you-can is built on social interactions. According to David Just, a behavioral economist, consumers "recognize some fairness in having a different level of pay or cost" depending on how much income they earn. Well-heeled shoppers feel a "warm glow" when they pay more for their product, knowing that by doing so, they are helping others who are less fortunate to access healthy food. Despite increasing costs of production, all of the farms featured have been able to keep the pay-what-you-can model intact.