As multifunctional loci of local food economies and public activity, farmers markets impart diverse impacts on their surrounding communities. In response to the emerging scholarship on farmers markets, as well as the desires of market managers to buttress their decision-making with cogent data analysis, the Farm 2 Facts data collection toolkit was created by the University of Wisconsin-Madison to measure the economic, social, and ecological impacts of farmers markets. We document here the history of Farm 2 Facts. Through case studies of F2F members, we describe the ways in which individual markets, market organizations, and local governments use farmers markets as a means of achieving differing goals, as well as how Farm 2 Facts necessarily adapted to measure and support these goals. We argue that Farm 2 Facts is in a tight reciprocal relationship with market managers who become citizen scientists in order to support their managerial role and communicate the benefits of their markets. Given that market policy change is often the impetus for collecting data, empathy for the goals of market managers is inseparable from Farm 2 Facts. We find that a sensitivity to the dynamic needs of markets, an adaptive toolkit, and incorporating ongoing research into the toolkit are essential to supporting farmers market managers in their many duties.

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Flea markets and swap meets, classified here as Latino vendor markets (LVM), operate as social support systems for their communities. LVM are hubs of economic opportunity for business owners, yet they currently lack support from the field of urban planning. This paper explores four LVM case studies in California and Texas. A mixed-methods approach was used which included site observations, geospatial analysis and surveys with over 200 vendors, customers, and market managers to explore the urban linkages of LVM. Key findings include that LVM are at risk of potential redevelopment; they lack accessibility and perpetuate car dependence; yet there are opportunities to support LVM through planning tools such as improvement districts. They present lessons for exploring the links between the public and private sectors in reinforcing the social, economic and political benefit of marketplaces in the city.

Local marketplaces and street vendors represent an important segment of trade in a community and one of the initiators of the rural and peri-urban development. Agricultural and other products available at marketplaces and street vendors very often originate from a wider urban surrounding or nearby villages, so both are also an important factor of the daily migrations, exchange of goods, services, and money on the relation suburb-downtown and village-town/city. This study aims to analyze the social segments of the organization and operation of marketplaces, to provide an insight into the contemporary market processes and decision-making, and also to illustrate the future tendencies of the market outcomes of this aspect of the business. Using qualitative data processing, the results of one of the first empirical research on this topic in Serbia and this part of Europe will be analyzed. The results will show the economic, social, and cultural impact that marketplaces have on people’s everyday life and the economy of Serbia, along with defining future development guidelines. Besides, the findings of this research may be used by local authorities, the economy, and communities for future strategic development planning of this market segment. The outcomes may have an impact on future research of other aspects of marketplaces depending on the difference of regions, on one side, and also alternative opportunities for local development in less-advantaged communities, on the other side. Moreover, this contributes to the identification of the differences in the marketplace business management and sheds light on future initiatives for the encouragement of this local/global process.

(1) Background: This paper focuses on the development of a community assessment for telehealth using an interprofessional lens, which sits at the intersection of public health and urban planning using multistakeholder input. The paper analyzes the process of designing and implementing a telemedicine plan for the City of Brownsville and its surrounding metros. (2) Methods: We employed an interprofessional approach to CBPR which assumed all stakeholders as equal partners alongside the researchers to uncover the most relevant and useful knowledge to inform the development of telehealth community assessment. (3) Results: Key findings include that: physicians do not have the technology, financial means, or staff to provide a comprehensive system for telemedicine; and due to language and literacy barriers, many patients are not able to use a web-based system of telemedicine. We also found that all stakeholders believe that telehealth is a convenient tool that has the capacity to increase patient access and care. (4) Conclusions: Ultimately, the use of an interprofessional community-based participatory research (CBPR) design allowed our team to bring together local knowledge with that of trained experts to advance the research efforts.