Indicators for FMLFPP Market Projects

2019 update of an earlier FMC post about calculating FMLFPP indicators by Metrics team member Darlene Wolnik

Vermont Farmers’ Markets and Grocery Stores: A Price Comparison

The primary objectives of this price comparison study are threefold:
1. Establish an overview of prices at farmers’ markets that consumers can
expect to encounter in Vermont, and how they compare with grocery store
prices.
2. Utilize the pricing data to formulate more effective outreach efforts for EBT
beneficiaries who may be reluctant to visit farmers’ markets due to the
perception that prices at farmers’ markets are higher. For example,
identifying periods of the growing season when farmers’ markets prices are
particularly low or identifying specific produce prices that are particularly
low can better inform purchasing decisions by EBT users.
3. Provide farmers’ market producers and market managers with robust pricing
data that can inform their pricing decisions

ND Farmers Market Pricing

The North Dakota Department of Agriculture (NDDA) collects prices of specialty crops that are sold across the state. The data is collected on a voluntary basis. Here are some details about the data that you can view.

• The data is city specific.
• Farmers market vendors voluntarily provided pricing and unit measurement information to the NDDA.
• The prices are only for products that a producer brought to the market during that specific data collection period.
• The pricing does not reflect any sale prices or volume discounts.
• The NDDA tried to calculate pricing on a consistent scale based on the information provided. However, measurements such as “per bunch” are not standardized.
• The prices listed are for informational use only. Changes in market supply and demand may cause future prices to adjust to meet market conditions.
• Data collection started in 2016

West Central Minnesota Farmers Market Pricing Study

University of Minnesota Extension and the University of Minnesota Morris’ Center for Small Towns collected price data for nine popular vegetables at seven farmers markets in West Central Minnesota, as well as six mainline grocery stores and two natural food stores during peak growing season in July and August of 2014.

The market basket consisted of one pound each of nine vegetables. The average farmers market price for cucumbers, green peppers, onions, string beans, summer squash and sweet corn was less than the average grocery store price per pound, although only the difference between summer squash and zucchini were statistically significant.

The average grocery store price was less than the average farmers market price for cabbage and tomatoes, with cabbage having the highest difference.