As consumers seek more meaningful relationships with their food, with local farms, and with their neighbors, farmers markets are improving community health, and bring diverse groups of people together through a shared social space. On August 6th, the Farmers Market Coalition, a national nonprofit dedicated to strengthening farmers markets, is celebrating nutrition promotion and healthful habits as part of National Farmers Market Week.

…Farmers at seven farmers markets making up the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance in Seattle donated 44,000 pounds of fresh, local, quality produce to food banks in 2011….

Preliminary findings from a survey of Baltimore SNAP participants at farmers markets found that less than one-third of low-income market shoppers believed that high quality produce was available and affordable in their neighborhoods outside the market; the majority agreed or strongly agreed that the amount of fruits and vegetables they are able to purchase at the farmers market makes a difference in their or their family’s diet. “As part of our long term efforts to measure SNAP usage at several Baltimore farmer’s markets, we were encouraged that farmers markets are making a difference in families diets,” says Anne Palmer, Program Director for the Center for Livable Future at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. “Increasing fruit and vegetable purchases is a critical means of changing diets and improving health outcomes.”

Innovative efforts are underway to help farmers better connect with local consumers at farmers markets. Rural markets are increasingly capable of serving a large and more diverse audience thanks to strong support and fresh ideas that keep dollars circulating in the local economy.

“Many farmers today have little time to market their crops,” says Caroline Todd, Director of the Columbia Farmers Market in Missouri and volunteer board member of the national Farmers Market Coalition. “Farmers markets are one place where farmers have opportunities to tell their story, face-to-face, with the people who eat their food. During National Farmers Market Week, FMC encouragess all Americans to meet a farmer and listen to their stories of how food makes it from seed to plate.”

The 52 producers of the Williamsburg Farmers Market in Virginia generated an estimated $48,969.84 in state sales tax in 2011, supporting the state economy. Thirty-two percent of Crescent City Farmers Market shoppers in New Orleans report spending money at nearby businesses, resulting in $3.2 million in projected gross receipts and an annual contribution of $151,621 to local sales tax revenue.

In thousands of communities across the country this summer, farmers markets are more than simply a place to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables. They are hubs for information and home to thousands of innovative partnerships that teach skills and expand knowledge about food, health, and agriculture.

For Immediate Release Contact : Elizabeth Comiskey 877-362-0553 info@farmersmarketcoalition.org August 10, 2012 Farmers Market Coalition Celebrates Civic Engagement & Volunteerism During National Farmers Market Week The richly celebrated benefits of farmers markets –local economic dollars, direct interaction with farmers, fresh food and decreased fuel consumption, just to name a few –would not be a reality [...]

Every day this summer, communities are converging to celebrate a simple miracle: farmers coming together to share a harvest that’s feeding local families. The result? More viable regional economies; increased access to fresh, nutritious food; and stronger social networks that help keep communities healthy.

In the FMC advocacy alert I sent out yesterday, I mentioned that we would be providing more information about upcoming bills.  Sen. Gillibrand is the champion behind the Expanding Access to Farmers Markets Act and after speaking with senator Gillibrand’s office, we did confirm that organizations of all sizes,including individual farmers markets, can be added [...]