The LexisNexis Academic website was used to obtain a base listing of all grocery, convenience, and specialty food stores operating within Whatcom County. Each business was identified based o­n its unique NAICS Code. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the federal governments standard for classifying businesses for the purpose of collecting and analyzing statistical data related to the economy. The most recent data available was from 2007 and therefore required editing to insure the data was accurate. The three phonebooks issued to Whatcom County residents; DEX, Verizon, and YellowBook were used to identify businesses which may have opened since 2007 and to replace mailing addresses generated by the NAICS search with the actual physical location of the business.

A listing of farms offering u-pick and/or operating a retail stand, as well as farmers’ market locations, was obtained from various websites and organizations. The bulk of the list was acquired from the 2009 Whatcom Food & Farm Finder; however farms were also obtained from the Bellingham Herald, Washington Raspberry Commission, and PickYourOwn.org.