On average, prices were 36% higher than supermarkets.
national food system work
Seed and Cycle
As the movement grows robust, many shoots are growing from unlikely and likely places to support local place-based organizers of alternative food systems. I myself have become one of those, and the folks at Seed and Cycle are there too, offering smart resources for urban growing. Goals such as extending the growing season and soil building are imperative for small space farmers to utilize, but reading books alone will not give you the skills needed. Look for your version of Seed and Cycle in your community or, maybe, encourage a market volunteer or partner agency to start one.
Seed and Cycle
Market Map
most recent map of farmers markets in US according to the USDA.
Immigrant farmers
“Mr. Kim, who witnessed mass starvation in Cambodia, losing a brother, refers to his two-acre plot as “my plenty.” His fellow farmer Sinikiwe Makarutsa grew up in Zimbabwe and now grows maize on land rented from a local church. She made enough money to buy a tractor and rototiller.”
We’re not buying it.
Watch the video and sign up to support the project:
Sign petition
Australian interview on markets
Australian farmers, Garry Stephenson Coordinator of the Small Farms Program at Oregon State University, Stacy Miller, Farmers Market Coalition Executive Director and Jane Adams, the Australian farmers market organization founder talk about the growth of farmers markets in both countries. The market movement in Australia has grown in their first 10 years to 150 markets nationwide and this interview examines the growth concerns in both countries. Jane Adams speaks well on the criteria Aussie markets employ and being able to “buy dinner” and on the size of the markets versus diversity of products. Australian organizers will be in the U.S. at the end of the month to share their lessons and will attend the Community Food Security Coalition conference November 5-8 in Oakland CA.
Are there too many markets?
A NYT article in Sunday’s paper reports on (and quotes some of our market leaders) on saturation worries with climbing numbers of markets and cannibalization of shoppers. Of course, its already true in some areas, but in my mind, only if we ignore the fact that, at best, we attract 1-5% of the population right now.
We can increase the number of markets if we continue to direct resources to increasing the number and type of farmers while we seek out groups of new “low-hanging fruit” of the next generation of shoppers.
In short, to improve we need to maintain balance of benefits while reaching new, often slightly less ready shoppers while holding on to our old faithfuls…
Amazing article on actual food costs
I think there are great quotes and information in here for every market, every food system piece of writing you are doing…
Including this quote:
But alas, the gospel that better nutrition means more expense has taken on a life of its own. Everyone has heard it — and so everyone tends to repeat it. Perception becomes reality, so most people simply accept that good nutrition is economically disadvantageous. They then stop trying to eat better and simply propagate the urban legend.
Market Forces Report is released
Michigan: “UCS released the report just a few days before the 12th annual U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Farmers Market Week, which starts Sunday. According to the report, “Market Forces: Creating Jobs through Public Investment in Local and Regional Food Systems,” the number of farmers markets nationwide more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, jumping from 2,863 to 6,132, and now more than 100,000 farms sell food directly to local consumers.”
Source: Huron Daily Tribune
Download the report here:
Report
Anna Lappé: What Can You Do
As always, I post these in the hope that it will be useful for some of you to embed in your own websites or newsletters. Never doubt that different voices saying the same message will hit different audiences over time. So keep the message alive.
Access to grocers doesn’t improve diets, study finds
Better access to supermarkets — long touted as a way to curb obesity in low-income neighborhoods — doesn’t improve people’s diets, according to new research. The study, which tracked thousands of people in several large cities for 15 years, found that people didn’t eat more fruits and vegetables when they had supermarkets available in their neighborhoods.The results, published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, throw some cold water on the idea that lack of access to fresh produce and other healthful foods is a major driver in the disproportionate rates of obesity among the poor, or that simply encouraging grocery chains to open in deprived areas will fix the problem, said study lead author Barry Popkin, director of the Nutrition Transition Program at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Helping Farmers Markets Grow 