Morning Ag Clips logo
  • Subscribe ❯
  • PORTAL ❯
  • LOGIN ❯
  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe to our
    daily email
    ❯
  • Portal Registration❯
  • Login❯
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Morning Ag Clips

  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
Home » Farmers markets as essential sources of healthy food
food systems marketing nutrition and health rural life
FARMERS MARKET ...

Farmers markets as essential sources of healthy food

Promotes health and wellness, contributes to the local economy and brings people together

PUBLISHED ON August 1, 2021

Seattle’s Pike Place Market, founded in 1907 to enable farmers to sell directly to consumers, has become one of the city’s top tourist attractions. (ThreeIfByBike/Flickr, CC BY-SA)

MADISON, Wis. (THE CONVERSATION) — For many Americans, buying fresh local food at one of the estimated 9,000 farmers markets across the U.S. is one of summer’s pleasures. But farmers markets aren’t just nice amenities. Over the past 18 months, many have filled food supply gaps caused by COVID-19 shutdowns.

While numerous farmers markets shut down at the start of the pandemic, many soon reopened under state or local guidelines that mandated masks, social distancing and other precautions.

When grocery store supply chains were disrupted, consumer interest in local foods spiked, along with concerns about exposure to the coronavirus while shopping. Farmers market managers adapted swiftly, experimenting with options like prepackaged goods and drive-thru pickup.

In fact, many farmers markets enjoyed their strongest-ever sales in 2020. Affluent shoppers became more interested in buying local food, while lower-income buyers were able to use federal benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Stepping into this expanded role was no mean feat – but we know from our research in city planning and urban food systems that with adequate support, marketplaces respond vigorously to crises and opportunities.

The fall and rise of urban farmers markets

Farmers have been selling their goods at public markets in the U.S. for centuries. Many U.S. cities evicted or sidelined street vendors in the mid-20th century to make room for large-scale retail stores. But in the 1970s and ‘80s, farmers markets started reappearing in middle-class communities and suburbs.

This resurgence, which reflected the rise of the environmental movement, was most evident in university towns like Berkeley, California, and Madison, Wisconsin. In these communities, restaurants, farmers markets and educated consumers converged around the idea of eating locally produced food. Consumers wanted to taste flavors they remembered from childhood, and a new generation of growers were learning and practicing ecologically friendly farming methods.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture became interested in the related phenomena of organic products and local foods sold directly to consumers. In the 1990s, the agency began to document the number of U.S. farmers markets.

Cities like Des Moines, Iowa, and San Antonio began to promote “placemaking” initiatives around markets, using them to help create quality public spaces. By the 2000s multifunctional markets became common, often serving racially and economically diverse populations.

For example, by 2019 Chicago had 27 outdoor farmers markets across the city, offering goods such as clothing and furniture along with food. Some cities repurposed sites such as fairgrounds and drive-in theaters to house outdoor markets.

Governments began to view markets as policy tools for promoting food security, fostering new farmers and supporting place-based community development. Advocacy organizations supporting farmers markets also emerged to help markets attract public and private support. In 2008 the Farmers Market Coalition, a California-based nonprofit, was launched to represent markets around the country.

Filling COVID gaps

The pandemic worsened food insecurity in the U.S., where it already was a serious concern. A lack of reliable access to healthy food contributes to many long-term health issues, and has severe implications for child development.

According to the nonprofit organization Feeding America, food insecurity in the U.S. rose dramatically because of the pandemic. In 2020, 45 million people – including 15 million children – experiencing food insecurity, up from 35 million in 2019.

Farmers markets have become important tools for reducing food insecurity over the past 15 years. Most studies that measure food access focus on two factors: households’ proximity to food sources and access to transportation. Food sources can include supermarkets, discount stores, convenience stores, farmers markets and food pantries. Among these options, consumers purchase healthy food mostly at supermarkets and farmers markets.

Federal funding distributed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture transformed food security during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program took a variety of steps to move locally and regionally produced food into schools, food banks and farmers markets.

Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND Source: Feeding America

About US$19 billion went to these various outlets. Farmers markets helped to expand access to food, with most states declaring them to be essential services.

While there are no uniform national statistics, surveys and media reports show that many food-insecure people shopped at farmers markets during the pandemic. A survey by the Farmers Market Coalition found that in the summer of 2020, purchases using SNAP benefits – the largest federal food assistance program – increased over 2019 levels at nearly 40% of markets that responded. From central Texas to western North Carolina to Connecticut, farmers markets reported dramatic increases in customers using SNAP and Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer cards.

Farmers markets for the 21st century

As the pandemic showed, farmers markets make communities more resilient during catastrophic events. We are working to help markets become more effective and efficient so that they can play even larger roles in their communities.

We have developed a toolkit called Farm 2 Facts for market managers to help them collect and analyze economic, ecological and other data to address a wide range of questions. For example, markets have used the program to track visitor counts and demographic trends, conduct outreach to low-income and minority shoppers and estimate the markets’ local economic impacts.

We also are developing ecosystem metrics to help farmers and markets educate consumers about farmers markets’ important ecological benefits. This tool will enable farmers to measure how their products promote environmental goals such as biodiversity and soil health.

Technology investments are helping farmers markets to grow. One priority is having the capability to process electronic benefits transactions so that the markets can serve customers at all income levels. And decision-support software like Farm 2 Facts can help them document how farmers markets promote health, equality and sustainability.

The next time you visit a farmers market, look past the corn and cucumbers. You’ll see an organization that’s promoting health and wellness, contributing to the local economy and bringing people together.

–Edna Ledesma, University of Wisconsin-Madison and
Alfonso Morales, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Conversation

For more articles concerning farmers markets, click here.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Flickr/Creative Commons)
USDA announces framework for shoring up the food supply chain
June 01, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing details of a framework to transform the food system to benefit consumers, producers and rural communities by providing more options, increasing access, and creating new, more, and better markets for small and mid-size producers. Today’s announcement builds on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and […]

Addressing food insecurity in Kansas
May 12, 2021

MANHATTAN, Kan. — “When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence.” For Debbie Bearden in Allen County, her dad was an example of someone who built longer tables. “I grew up on a dairy, and my dad allowed neighbors to get milk from our milk tanks,” Bearden says. […]

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Flickr/Creative Commons)
USDA: 100 days update
May 02, 2021

WASHINGTON — Since January 20, 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration has been on a mission to Build Back Better. From the American Rescue Plan to the American Jobs Plan and now with the introduction of the American Families Plan, action has been taken to provide relief to the American people, and the necessary investments have been made […]

Leaders break ground on NYS Regional Food Hub
March 29, 2021

BRONX, N.Y. — Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, Empire State Development Acting President and CEO Eric Gertler, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball, New York City Economic Development Corporation Acting President Rachel Loeb, Congressman Ritchie Torres, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Council Member Salamanca and community […]

Spread the word

Browse More Clips

Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect

U.S. advances anti-hunger, climate initiatives at UN pre-summit

Primary Sidebar

MORE

NATIONAL CLIPS

The Cattle Price Discovery and Transparency Act
February 2, 2023
2022 Heritage Breed Microgrants awarded
February 2, 2023
Funding to improve seniors' access to locally grown foods
February 2, 2023
dairy milk milking robotic milker
U.S. dairy praises USTR move to hold Canada responsible for USMCA violations
February 2, 2023
As prices ease, 1.45 billion chicken wings on the menu for Super Bowl LVII
February 2, 2023
  • Trending
  • Latest

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

harbor maintenance
Grants to seven harbor projects benefit ag
February 3, 2023
Outstanding Young Farmer
Weaver wins Outstanding Young Farmer award
February 2, 2023
Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association
Equity annual district meeting dates set
February 2, 2023
cattle on feed
CattleFax forecasts producer profitability in 2023
February 2, 2023
MU Extension launches 'Show-Me MO Success' podcast
February 2, 2023

Footer

MORNING AG CLIPS

  • Contact Us
  • Sponsors
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service

CONNECT WITH US

  • Like Us on Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

TRACK YOUR TRADE

  • Markets & Economy
  • Cattle Updates
  • Dairy News
  • Policy & Politics
  • Corn Alerts

QUICK LINKS

  • Account
  • Portal Membership
  • Just Me, Kate
  • Farmhouse Communication

Get the MAC App Today!

Get it on Google Play
Download on the App Store

© 2023 Morning Ag Clips, LLC. All Rights Reserved.