News
New Directors Join FMC Board
Stacy July 21, 2008After hosting FMC’s first ever web-based member meeting July 14th through 18th, FMC is proud to welcome eight new Directors to the Board: Copper Alvarez, Director, Big River Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance/Manager, Red Stick Farmers Market (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) Chris Curtis, Director, Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance (Seattle, WA) Cheryl DeBerry, Co-Owner, DeBerry Farm (Oakland,…
New Web site Resources, Upgrades on the Way
Stacy July 20, 2008The Farmers Market Coalition is pleased to announce that it is presently upgrading its web site to include some new features, including a searchable library of resources where users will be able to find sample documents, tip sheets, guidebooks, available research, and other resources on farmers markets in one easy-to-navigate portal. Working with the Wallace…
Preliminary Farmers Market Survey Results Offer New Insights
StacyAs many in the farmers market community are well aware, a dearth of comprehensive research on farmers markets at the national level is just one of many challenges to identifying and addressing common obstacles. The gap in knowledge, thankfully, is about to grow a little smaller, as the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will be…
Reader Survey Reveals Operational Trends
StacyThe magazine Farmers’ Markets Today recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, and this spring e-mailed a survey to 1200 of its subscribers who manage or sell at farmers markets or who are involved with a market in some other role. Editors at the magazine have generously shared data from this effort with the Farmers Market Coalition,…
“Market” Research: Learning the Dynamics of Building Community
Stacyby Michael Rosenkrantz, FMC trans·act Fellow What better way to spend a day than at a farmers market, enjoying juicy peaches, nectarines and plums, interacting with customers and vendors and finding out what people truly think about markets? Beyond the variety of food is the diversity of sounds: a young teen singing Neil Young covers,…
Summer is the Ideal Time to Sow FMPP Seeds
StacyMany readers are probably familiar with the Farmers Market Promotion Program, a competitive grant program administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to assist in establishing, expanding, and promoting farmers markets and to promote direct producer-to-consumer marketing. In the past two years, limited funding for the program and a wealth of proposals has meant that…
The Importance of Integrity in the Face of Growth
Stacyby Don Wambles, FMC President As I look at news of weather related disasters across the country from floods, droughts, and tornadoes, I am reminded of the extremely difficult circumstances that our farmers deal with to provide us with food and fiber. Their resilience, even in the face of adversity, their hope for a better…
Multiple Listings Can Maximize Market Reach
StacyNow is the time to make sure your farmers market is listed in the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) national directory of farmers markets. Staff at AMS are currently updating the directory with the intention of announcing a new official number of farmers markets on or before Farmers Market Week. If you represent a farmers…
Free Resource Guides Available
StacyJust in time for National Farmers Market Week, the Wallace Center has announced a second printing of their popular spiral bound farmers market resource guides, initially released late last fall. “Getting Started with Farmers Markets” is a colorful introduction to product diversity, display, pricing, and marketing techniques for vendors. “Recruiting Vendors for a Farmers Market”…
Crafts or No Crafts?: One Market’s Approach to Balancing Diversity and Integrity
Stacy July 18, 2008It is generally agreed that product diversity at a farmers market attracts shoppers, and as time-conscious consumers, we all understand the value of one-stop shopping. Handiwork from local artisans and craftspeople can complement food products, reinforce in consumers’ minds the market as THE place to go for all things locally produced and potentially increase all…
