FMC Seeks Member Volunteers to Guide Education and Policy Efforts

      Posted On: January 18, 2012

Are you passionate about taking farmers markets to the next level, and ready to play a more active role in FMC’s educational and policy initiatives?  This winter, the Farmers Market Coalition Board of Directors seeks up to ten members to serve one of two FMC Standing Committees that guide important mission areas.  Up to five volunteer slots for experienced and passionate FMC members are available on both the Policy & Advocacy Committee and the Education Committee.  Committee members will participate in monthly conference calls to develop resources for members and board members.  Read on to find out more…

Policy & Advocacy Committee

The purpose of the Policy & Advocacy Committee is to advise the Board on public policy positions of FMC, including Farm Bill advocacy strategy (including FMPP, FMNP, and other programs). The committee chair or designated representative  reports the full Board at regularly scheduled meetings or as requested by FMC President.  The Policy and Advocacy Committee will assess and communicate the impacts of federal farmers market programs, facilitate member communication with national policymakers about their regions’ farmers market impacts, and  develop resources for the farmers market community including: policy priority summaries, program, fact sheets, sample op-eds, and other policy education resources.

Specifically, the Policy & Advocacy Committee will:

a)       Develop well-researched public positions which reflect the priorities, concerns, and interests of the Farmers Market Coalition’s members and the farmers market community at large, and oversee regular publication of position papers.

b)       Monitor legislative and regulatory developments, public positions of allied organizations, and recommend appropriate responses reflective of the interests of our members.

c)       Advise and assist staff in the dissemination of adopted policy positions to the members.

Education Committee

The Education Committee was created by the FMC Board of Directors to guide the collection and diffusion of farmers market best practices including development and implementation of web-based and regional face-to-face professional development curricula.  The Committee has advised such developments as the Farmers Market Resource Library, Manager FAQs, and Information Marketplace webinars.  The Education Committee reports to the full Board on a regular basis, through the committee chair or designated representative.

Task Force: Best Practices Task Force

The Best Practices Task Force will provide guidance and oversight of the collection, synthesis, and diffusion of best practices and professional development tools for the benefit of the farmers market community.  As such, the Task Force will provide executive staff with long-range vision on professional development and educational needs of vendors and market management and assist the staff in recognizing and reviewing untapped bodies of knowledge for the purposes of documentation through newsletter articles, fact sheets, case studies, and by posting sample or template documents on the FMC web site library.

Task Force: Webinars

The Webinar Task Force will provide oversight and identification of topics, presenters, and implementation of web-based training opportunities for farmers market managers, state farmers market association leaders, and farm educators.

Task Force: Integrity/Accreditation

The Integrity/Accreditation Task Force will be composed of FMC Board members and other FMC members to research farmers market producer-only standards and enforcement mechanisms and develop resources for other FMC.

Member participation in these activities is more important now than ever.  To volunteer on either FMC committee during this very important year, helping the Board of Directors build capacity of farmers markets while ensuring that public policy supports their continued efforts to meet the triple bottom line of farmers, consumers, and communities, send an email to leadership@farmersmarketcoalition.org by February 1st.  Please submit a brief description of your relevant background, experience, and current affiliation, as well as any specific issues on which you are interested in working as a committee member (with a résumé if appropriate) .  Include the name of the committee in which you are interested in the subject line.   The committees will review these submissions at the February 9^th Board Meeting and follow up for more information as needed.  Please contact FMC President Bernadine Prince with any questions at Bernie@farmersmarketcoalition.org.