Counting Farmers Markets

Abstract

Farmers markets selling locally grown produce were once vital components of urban food systems. In the modern era an extended wholesale supply system has reduced markets to negligible importance in provisioning. Yet the number of farmers markets in the United States has grown dramatically in the past thirty years. Examination of the literature on American farmers markets in the twentieth century reveals cycles of expansion and decline. Four surges in numbers are reported, with the most rapid rise following the passage of Public Law 94-463, the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976. Between 1970 and 1986, markets in some states increased tenfold, with the national total rising nearly 500 percent by one estimate. Beginning in the late iy80s, farmers markets entered another growth phase, which continues. Research into farmers markets is hindered by the lack of consistency in classification, by incomplete descriptions of market characteristics, and by lost data.

Evaluating the South Memphis Farmers Market as a Strategy To Improve Access to Healthy Foods: Lessons from 2011

“…Growing scholarly focus on farmers' markets reflects their increasing frequency in the US since the 1970s (Brown, 2001), but evidence of their effectiveness as an intervention to address neighborhood food environments and quality of life is limited (McCormack, Laska, Larson, & Story, 2010). In addition to longitudinal studies assessing the relationship between access to farmers' markets and health outcomes such as body composition (e.g., obesity risk), scholars have argued for the need to explore the social benefits of markets (Andreatta & Wickliffe, 2002;McCormack et al, 2010).…”

Alternative framings of alternative food: A typology of practice

“…Farmers' markets (FMs) have been investigated extensively. Their renaissance has been documented in North America (Brown 2001;Feagan et al 2004;AMS 2007cited in Brown & Miller 2008, in the UK (Holloway & Kneafsey 2000;Kneafsey & Ilbery 2001), and in Australia (Coster 2004). It was proposed that FMs are in fact integral to the re-creation of regional and local food systems (Gillespie et al 2007).…”

“…It was proposed that FMs are in fact integral to the re-creation of regional and local food systems (Gillespie et al 2007). They have been studied in: the US, e.g., regarding their manifestation as post-industrial entities, their economic impacts, and their links to local economies, respectively (Lyson et al 1995;Brown 2001;Bubinas 2011); Australia, e.g., their competition with other (mostly mainstream) food sources (Gross 2011); the UK, e.g., as novel sites of consumption (Holloway & Kneafsey 2000); and, in overview (e.g., McEachern et al 2010). Subscription farming, e.g., direct farm-to-consumer food boxes, has been examined regarding motivations for its use in the UK and France (Brown et al 2009), and comprehensively in the case study of the Good Food Box scheme in Toronto (Baker 2004;Johnston & Baker 2005).…”

Farmers’ Market Actors, Dynamics, and Attributes: A Bibliometric Study

“…Farmers' markets emerged as a possible means to bring producers together with consumers under direct marketing, known as alternative food networks (AFN) [1][2][3]. This was done for several reasons: to allow producers to retain the profits resulting from the sale of their products, and to benefit the consumers, who are able to obtain fresh products directly from the production unit [4].…”

“…In the United States, the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976, along with similar legislation in other countries, have enabled support for and the presence of farmers' markets in developed countries [1]. These spaces are essential for the implementation of public policies that aim to promote access to and consumption of fruits and vegetables so that the population may develop healthier eating habits [8,9].…”