News
Climate Change and Farmers Markets
Hannah Fuller April 21, 2021Earth Day has a way of making us reflect on the environment, climate change, and our personal relationship to the natural world around us. At FMC, we’re taking time to reflect on our work and the role farmers markets play in the mission for sustainable food systems. Farmers markets are the site for innovation for…
Advocating for Local Solutions
Hannah Fuller April 19, 2021While accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at your farmers market is a great first step towards increasing community participation, many market operators find there may be barriers to accessing the necessary equipment to do so. Because SNAP Benefits are loaded on to a government issued payment card, called Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), accepting…
Call to Action: Urge Congress to Support the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program
Hannah Fuller April 13, 2021Together, we can stand up for WIC FMNP and increased access to fresh produce nationwide! On Friday, the White House issued its FY2022 budget proposal, which signals the beginning of the Appropriations process. While setting funding levels belongs to Congress, not the President, the budget proposal is important as it signals the priorities of the…
Connection and Collaboration: Nutrition Incentive Hub 2021 National Convening Recap
Hannah Fuller April 6, 2021By now, you’ve probably heard us talk about FMC’s role in the Nutrition Incentive Hub. A quick recap: FMC, Ecology Center and Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA) make up the Farm Direct Team within the Nutrition Incentive Hub. We represent and provide support for farm direct operations like farmers markets, CSA’s and farm stands. The…
Becoming the Farmers Market Support Program
Darlene Wolnik April 5, 2021One of the chief goals of the FMC Strategic Plan that our stakeholders prioritized is for FMC to Support FM Operators/Networks in Capacity-Building.* Another is to become an active anti-racist organization and ally. As a result of working towards these two priorities, we’ve redesigned what was previously called our Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Program…
Update from NIFA Regarding GusNIP Request for Applications Language
Hannah Fuller March 24, 2021In response to feedback from Farmers Market Coalition and our partners, earlier this month USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) issued a revised Request For Applications (RFA) for the 2021 Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program. We greatly appreciate the attention of USDA as well as Members of Congress to this very significant issue. The…
InTents: The Farmers Market Conference – FMC Preview
Hannah Fuller March 3, 2021As the weather starts to warm up and we head into spring, many farmers markets operators are wrapping up a season of learning through virtual conferences, meetings, and training. One of our favorite gatherings of farmers market operators and vendors is the InTents: The Farmers Market Conference, hosted by Farmers Market Pros. The conference season…
Online SNAP at Markets: On the Horizon, not out of reach
Katie Myhre February 24, 2021Online SNAP: On the horizon, not out of reach. In March 2020, the world went online. Restaurants, retailers, and farmers alike were suddenly asked to sell their products via pre-order, curbside pickup, “contactless” delivery, or any variation of the new household terms COVID-19 brought us. In the first three months of the U.S. outbreak alone,…
Buy Local Even in South Dakota’s Winter Months
Diana Broadaway February 19, 2021For Immediate Release: Feb. 18, 2021 Online link: https://sdspecialtyproducers.org/2021/02/03/winter-months/ Buy Local Even in South Dakota’s Winter Months Yankton, S.D.- Most South Dakotans think of local foods as seasonal items. But even through our cold winters, more and more local food hubs, farmers markets and direct to consumer producers are open for business year-round. Our access to fresh,…
February Policy Round Up
Hannah Fuller February 17, 2021Farmers Market Coalition recently helped to lead a sign-on letter to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture regarding a very concerning change to the Request for Applications for the current round of funding through the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program. The language in question reads: “GusNIP allows the use of incentives only for qualifying…
