Purpose

1. Grocery store selection criteria A “traditional supermarket chain store” was defined as a store that offers a complete line of groceries, meat, and produce, may include a deli, bakery, and/or pharmacy, and have a median square footage of 46,000 square feet. A “superstore” was defined as a supermarket with at least 30,000 sq. ft., offering an expanded selection of non-food items, with specialty departments and extensive services. A “food cooperative” was defined as a consumer-owned natural food retail co-operative offering organic and local groceries, meat, and produce, and adhering to the seven cooperative principles established by the International Cooperative Alliance. Following these definitions, Safeway was chosen as the traditional supermarket chain store, Fred Meyer was chosen as the superstore, and the PCC was chosen as the food cooperative. Stores were chosen in areas where they were clustered in the same zip code or neighboring zip codes. Northwest stores were located in the following Seattle zip codes: 98103, 98117, 98107; Northeast stores were located in the following Seattle zip codes: 98115, 98125; South Seattle stores were located in the following zip code: 98118. Availability was defined as the number of brands of organic eggs offered at each store, regardless of the day of the week or time of day. Organic egg labeling criteria Organic eggs were labeled with the USDA certified organic symbol or the Oregon Tilth Certified Organic symbol. Eggs from pasture-raised hens were labeled with as “pasture raised”, “animal welfare approved”, or “food alliance certified”. Eggs produced from farms located West of the Cascade Mountains were considered “locally sourced”. Data Collection A data collection form was used to collect the following data: Store name, address, date, time, and name of the data collector. The number of organic egg brands, pasture raised egg brands, and locally sourced egg brands were counted and recorded on the data collection form. Additionally, brand names of each egg type were recorded. One researcher was assigned a specific store type (traditional supermarket store chain, superstore, or food cooperative), for a total of three researchers collecting data. Over the course of one month, each researcher visited their assigned store type in each designated store location, completing one data collection form per store, with the exception of the South Seattle superstore, as there was not one located in the zip code limits. The results of the data collection form were recorded in an Excel spreadsheet for data analysis. Figure 1. Percent of egg types in each geographic location. The NW store locations offered the most organic, pasture-raised, and local egg availability. Organic Eggs Widely Available Among Various Store Types in Seattle, WA: Traditional Grocery Store, Superstore, and Food Cooperative Introduction Methods Results cont. Conclusion Research Methods – Winter 2013 - Bastyr University Amber Leon, Julia Patterson, Danielle Selden, Kali Tupper Table 1. Egg brands at each store type/location. All store types and locations offered organic eggs, Fred Meyer and PCC offered local eggs, and only PCC offered pasture-raised hen eggs. Discussion Results All store types in all locations offered differing brands of organic eggs (Table 1). Both PCC and Fred Meyer offered local eggs (Table 1). PCC was the only store type to offer pasture-raised eggs (Table 1). Availability of organic eggs varied between store types, but not to a large degree (Table 3). The NW area offered the greatest availability of organic eggs (mean=2.7, SD=0.58), followed by the NE area (mean=2.0, SD=1.00) and the S area (mean=1.5, SD=0.71) (Table 2, Fig. 1). Availability of pasture-raised (n=3, or 60%) and local hen eggs (n=2, or 50%) was greatest at the NW PCC (Table 3, Fig. 1). Table 3. Availability of eggs (n) at each store type and location. The NW PCC offered the most availability of all egg types. Table 2. Frequency, mean, and standard deviation (SD) of egg brands/type in each location. Availability of all egg types was greatest in the NW area. Purpose The current study reveals that organic and pasture-raised eggs are available in all observed geographic areas and at various store types (Table 1, Fig. 2), providing useful information for health conscious consumers in Seattle, WA who place value on the nutritional quality of the food they purchase (Jussaume et al., 2004). Organic and pasture-raised eggs are nutrient dense, providing greater amounts of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than conventionally raised hen eggs (Long & Alterman, 2007; Ruth, et al., 2011). An overall availability of organic eggs may be attributed to a growing appetite for organic foods in the U.S., which has emerged as an important segment of the market (Chang et al., 2010; Dimitri & Oberholtzer, 2009). In future research it would be desirable to include a larger pool of grocery stores survey including additional store types. Further, analysis of each location at the same time and on the same day as well as interviews of managers may reflect a more accurate count of availability. Increased availability of nutrient-dense foods in neighborhoods, such as fruits and vegetables, has resulted in greater daily consumption, which may improve overall diet quality. (Moore et al., 2008; Wrigley, Warm, Margetts, & Whelan, 2002). Many consumers make purchasing decisions based on food quality and availability indicating nutritional value is more important at times than price (Selfa & Qazi, 2005). In 2002, a survey of King County residents (n=238) of varying income levels found that consumers ranked the following buying factors as “very important”: “Freshness”(94%), “taste” (89%), “nutritional value” (78%),  “available where I shop” (75%), “variety” (61%), “price” (55%), “Washington grown” (33%), and “organically grown” (21%) (Jussaume, Ostrom, & Jarosz, 2004). These food quality preferences may be fueling the North American organic market, one of the fastest growing markets in the world, and in particular the organic egg market (Chang, Lusk, & Norwood, 2010). Research shows that organic and pastured raised eggs are more nutritious than the USDA’s conventional eggs (Long & Alterman, 2007). Assessing the availability of organic eggs in Seattle, WA has not yet been researched. This information would be useful for health conscious consumers, as greater availability of nutrient-dense organic eggs may increase intake of vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids in consumer diets, especially those who value freshness, taste, or increased nutritional content over price. This study examines potential differences in the availability of organic eggs in Seattle, WA in relation to store type and location. Store types were chosen based on King County residents frequency of shopping visits to a traditional grocery store (2-3x/week or more; ~83%) or a food cooperative (2-3x/month; ~20%) (Jussaume, Ostrom, & Jarosz, 2004). It is hypothesized that the availability of organic eggs will vary between a traditional supermarket chain store, a superstore, and a food cooperative in Seattle, WA based on store type and location.