Farmers' Markets

For many communities nationwide, farmers’ markets have become a visible, tangible link with local farmers. While farmers’ markets have come to symbolize many different things – health, community, farmer support, environmentalism – they have uniquely been able to facilitate 1) direct connections between farmers and customers, allowing for a great deal of transparency, feedback, and trust; 2) greater earning potential of agricultural producers, many of whom rely on relatively small acreages at the urban fringe; and 3) greater public awareness of how food and farming relate to diet and health.

Farmers' markets have proliferated across the United States over the past decade with more then 4,300 markets today providing a high margin retail outlet for an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 small and medium-sized farmers. Not isolated to the coasts or affluent areas, markets have increasingly developed in rural regions (Iowa has the most markets per capita in state) and expanded to serve the needs of low-income customers through the use of the innovative Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program; Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program; and development of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) systems appropriate for markets.

Recently, the business model of direct-to-consumer marketing, as at a farmers’ market, has been expanded to include direct or single middleman sale to public school cafeterias through farm-to-school projects and mid-sized value chains to serve the expanding demand for locally and sustainably produced foods in restaurants, university and corporate cafeterias, and retail food stores. Currently in a “scaling-up” phase, these business models offer promise to reach more customers affordably while maintaining favorable producer margins and employment practices.