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Communities with successful farmers’ markets can speak to how markets inspire healthier eating and promote a new-found appreciation for local farming. With so many farmers’ markets across the country, it can be difficult to say exactly how a farmers’ market works and what a successful one entails. A non-profit group is pulling together data on markets around the U.S., and plans to use this data to help markets begin, grow, learn, and better serve their community.
The Farmers Market Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to strengthening farmers markets across the United States so that they can serve as community assets while providing real income opportunities for farmers. Farmers Market Metrics will be a set of tools and resources that will allow market managers to easily and effectively collect, store, and communicate information on their individual market, while simultaneously aggregating data on farmers markets across the country in an online database.
Alfonso Morales, a professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the principle investigator of the study. In an article for the National Science Foundation, Morales said the project will do more than help market managers make decisions. It can also help market managers advocate for the market with local business and government. For example, if a market wants permission to open a new branch in a public park in an underserved neighborhood, data showing the amount of produce purchased with SNAP benefits can help persuade the city that it’s a worthwhile use of space, said Morales.
Learn more and follow the project’s progress here.
By The Numbers
1
Supermarket
for every Latino neighborhood, compared to 3 for every non-Latino neighborhood
