News
New Meat Marketing Resources Available
Stacy March 25, 2009The New York Small Farms Livestock Processing Work Team announced two new publications. Meat and Poultry at the Market: What a Farmers’ Market Manager Needs to Know and Meat and Poultry at the Market: What a Farmer Needs to Know cover many specific details on what is required of farmers in order to sell at…
FMC Members Elect 2009 Board Members
Stacy March 23, 2009On March 20th, the Farmers Market Coalition announced the outcome of its 2009 board of directors election. Four existing directors were elected to second terms, including Jim Bingen, Janel Leatherman, Richard McCarthy, and Sharon Yeago. Fred Broughton of South Carolina was elected to his first term on the board, and says that he is “delighted…
Roger Johnson Elected as President of NFU
Stacy March 22, 2009Roger Johnson was elected National Farmers Union’s 14th president during the organization’s 107th anniversary convention in March 2009. On April 3, he will resign as the Commissioner of Agriculture in North Dakota, where he has served for twelve years. During his tenure at the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, Mr. Johnson: -Organized and hosted the…
2009 FMPP Funding Announced
Stacy March 13, 2009The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) invites proposals for the 2009 Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) grant program. The Notice of Funds Available for the FMPP was published in the Federal Register on March 13, 2009. This is the fourth year of the FMPP grant program, which is authorized under the recently amended Farmer-to-Consumer Direct…
Local Food Could Trigger $30 Billion in Illinois Economic Activity
Stacy March 11, 2009A statewide task force report delivered to the Illinois General Assembly presents a local farm-and-food development strategy that experts say could trigger $20 to $30 billion in new economic activity every year, creating thousands of new jobs while revitalizing rural communities. The report of the Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force concludes…
2007 Ag Census Shows Increase in Diversity, Number of Small Farms
Stacy February 11, 2009The number of farms in the United States has grown 4 percent and the operators of those farms have become more diverse in the past five years, according to results of the 2007 Census of Agriculture released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The 2007 Census counted 2,204,792 farms in…
Mini-Grants Available for Vermont Farmers Markets
Stacy2009 Farmers’ Market Mini Grants Grant Description The 2009 Vermont Farmers Market Mini-Grants are available to support successful expansion projects at existing markets or to help communities create new farmers markets. Currently there is $100,000 available to support grants up to $5,000 each. Interested markets are expected to conduct a strategic planning process to identify…
FMC Plans Activities for National Farmers Market Week
Stacy January 19, 2009Last year, National Farmers Market Week (NFMW) was been proclaimed the first week in August for the foreseeable future, which affords state and individual markets advance notice to plan their promotions farther in advance and consequently have a greater impact in communicating a positive message about farmers markets. The Farmers Market Coalition, with support from…
Federal Urban Development Program Can Be A Good Neighbor
StacyLooking for space to start or relocate a farmers market in your city or town? While farmers markets are uniquely creative in establishing in-kind partnerships for affordable and strategic locations, sometimes high real estate prices and parking limitations make the ideal central location unfeasible. A federal government program you may have never heard about may…
FMC Web Site Has More Options, a New Look
StacyImmediately before the new year, farmersmarketcoalition.org emerged from hibernation to reveal a new look, with several new features. Since December 31, the site has attracted more than 3,500 views. The most exciting part of the site is the National Farmers Market Resource Library (version 1.0), which is the first depository of farmers market information of its kind. Visitors can…
