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Category Archives: Newsletter
The Retail Jump: Simplifying Labeling and Understanding Pricing
Liz Comiskey July 8, 2014guest post by Lev Berlin, founder, ReciPal We all know first hand that starting a business, let alone a food business, is a serious undertaking and a challenge. Cottage food laws, while differing by state, allow people to start on a smaller scale without some of the same intimidating regulatory and business requirements that larger…
Tech Corner: using Farmstand to reach new customers
Liz Comiskeyguest post by John Ford, co-founder, Farmstand App As a friend of the Farmers Market Coalition, I don’t need to tell you how important our local farmers are or the benefits of locally grown food. When you’re in the farmers market world it’s the norm. The trick then is how do we keep spreading the…
Niche Marketing to Wildlife Conservationists
Liz Comiskeyby Charlottes Conley, Conservation Associate at Defenders of Wildlife It’s well known that consumers frequenting farmers markets these days are concerned about where their food is coming from and how it is grown. They want to feed their families food that is organic, grown locally and better tasting than what they could find at the local supermarket.…
Summer Initiatives
Jen O'BrienHello! This summer we’ve been delighted to hear about the many innovative farmers market initiatives happening nationwide. To name just a few: DC markets are offering checks to SNAP and Medicaid recipients as part of their Produce Plus initiative, the USDA is partnering with the Department of Defense to write a guide to running farmers markets on…
Farmers Market Metrics Prototype Released
Jen O'BrienAs hundreds of markets open for the year and others begin their summer season, the Farmers Market Coalition held a kickoff of its own, unveiling the first round of prototype reports from the Farmers Market Metrics project. The Farmers Market Metrics project is a multifaceted measurement initiative conducted in partnership with advocacy groups, market organizations,…
FMC Members Weigh in on How to Interpret and Communicate “Local Food”
Liz Comiskey July 3, 2014by Stacy Miller, FMC Program Advisor In March, Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) announced a pilot partnership with the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) and the Food Routes Network to Explore Definitions of “Local Food.” The project is currently in a three-pronged research phase, including a literature review, survey, and producer-only farmers market policy scan.…
USDA Farmers Market Opens with a Military Chef Cook-Off
Jen O'Brien June 11, 2014On Friday, I headed to Washington D.C. to join FMC President Bernie Prince, Vice President Copper Alvarez, and Board Members Jeff O’Hara and Gus Schumacher in celebrating the 19th season of the USDA’s Farmers Market. The Opening Day festivities, which fell on the 70th anniversary of D-Day, highlighted the intersection of American Agriculture and the…
Farmers Market at Camp Lejeune off to a Fast Start: Over 1,000 Marine Families attend Grand Opening
Liz Comiskeyby Gus Schumacher, vice-president Wholesome Wave, FMC Board of Directors Just-picked fresh strawberries from North Carolina’s Putnam Farm and the Aman Family Farm quickly sold out at North Carolina’s newest farmers market at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Nearly 1,000 service members and their families stopped by after Commanding General BGen. Robert Castellvi cut the…
Gaining Ground
Jen O'Brien March 13, 2014As this LONG, eventful winter comes to end, we’re gearing up for a great farmers market season. February brought the conclusion of what turned out to be a multi-year farm bill debate in Congress. The Agriculture Act of 2014—the farm bill’s official name—took steps toward supporting local agriculture by increasing funding for Community Food Projects,…
The Anselma Farmers and Artisans Market – a GMO-FREE Market
Liz Comiskey March 5, 2014by Sam Cantrell, FMC Member, Farmer, and founder of The Anselma Farmers and Artisans Market Our farmers market was started in 2004 as a program of Maysie’s Farm Conservation Center, a small non profit educational organization committed to “working toward a local, sustainable food system”. After four years in the town center of a “new…
