by Michael Rosenkrantz, FMC trans·act Fellow

What better way to spend a day than at a farmers market, enjoying juicy peaches, nectarines and plums, interacting with customers and vendors and finding out what people truly think about markets? Beyond the variety of food is the diversity of sounds: a young teen singing Neil Young covers, an older man singing traditional Japanese songs with a 20 year old guitar, a middle aged couple singing in Spanish, and toddlers dancing along with the market drummer. Neighbors are reacquainting, new friends are being made, and everyone is smiling, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or how much money they have or don’t have. The public space has been created to support family farms and local businesses, people are saving money and resources by walking or riding bikes, and consumers are learning healthy eating habits. If a farmers market can be such a powerful equalizer and simultaneously define community, I’m setting out to better understand the elements that make this possible.

Last month, I returned “home” to the Los Angeles area and am serving as this summer’s trans·act Research Fellow for marketumbrella and the Farmers Market Coalition. I’m investigating the seven Sustainable Economic Enterprise of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) markets, and one Kaiser Permanente Farmers Market in Woodland Hills, which is managed by the Southland Farmers Market Association. You can learn more about the history and goals of this project at the trans·act web site.

This is the second year of the research fellowship and there is presently another fellow working in New Orleans to refine the Sticky Economic Evaluation Device (SEED). Senior Research Fellow Robin Moon coordinates our efforts, and the Ford Foundation is providing the funding for this effort.

Who are the Local Partners?
SEE-LA is a community development corporation working to fill the void of fresh food access in urban, mostly low-income Los Angeles, by empowering the community through education and access, in turn empowering vendors. SEE-LA operates seven markets in the Los Angeles area, ranging in size from ten vendors at the Lemon Grove Farmers Market to150 vendors at the 17 year old flagship Hollywood Farmers Market. The markets operate in areas where the census tract “minority” populations range from 66% to 99% and the median household incomes range from 47% to 100% of the 2007 US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) family estimate.

Kaiser Permanente is the largest nonprofit health plan in the United States, serving 8.6 million members. In April, 2007 K.P. teamed up with the Southland Farmers Market Association, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting growers, to encourage healthy eating among employees, physicians, patients, and their families, by establishing the Woodland Hills Market. Kaiser has 23 farmers markets on hospital campuses throughout California and other farmers markets throughout Hawaii, Georgia and Oregon.

What are trans·act’s goals for 2008?
This summer’s goals for trans·act is to expand upon the 2007 research by refining and finalizing a set of survey tools developed to qualitatively and quantitatively measure the social capital impact that markets offer. This means investigating how building social capital impacts community health, and developing locality-specific case studies , to understand the dynamics and the social dimensions of markets.

My specific assignment is to manage a group of seven trained interviewers and conduct the field surveys at the eight Los Angeles markets. The surveys will be conducted in all eight markets over the span of six weeks, and after spending at least two days at each market, we now have a total of 21 days of market interviews and survey data, consisting of:

• in-person interviews of customers, vendors, and managers at markets, each with a unique set of questions
• door to door interviews of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods
• shadowing of customers and vendors at the market, observing their interactions with one another.

We are nearly through with our market day interviews and I’m observing first-hand the tangible and intangible impacts of these farmers markets, each one uniquely interacting with its surrounding neighborhoods. From my work to date, I’d like to share some of my personal, less formal observations.

The Hollywood Farmers Market (HFM) is by far the largest open-air farmers market that I’ve ever seen, with 150 vendors, mainly farmers. Every Sunday, the market transforms a four blocks between Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards into the community center. The mass of humanity and the variety of product is truly breathtaking. I haven’t seen any celebrities yet, but a couple of the interviewers told me that they tried to conduct a shopper interview of former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham (wife of the soccer star David Beckham), and were told by one of her bodyguards that “this wasn’t a good time”. I should note that the income stream of the HFM enables the organization to locate markets in low income areas where they are desperately needed.

Leimert Park Farmers Market is a true “community” market, taking place in a theatre parking lot every Saturday. I have felt very at home at this market, as I recently learned that, when I was a baby, my mother would walk me in a stroller on these very streets. The neighborhood population is mostly African American, with some of the vendors saying that they feel a “calling” to educate the community about healthy alternatives. One such vendor is South Central Farmers Health and Education Fund, a cooperative focused on bringing produce to underserved areas. In interviewing another vendor about which markets they preferred, they said Leimert Park because it is the “center of the Black creative community.” This market features music all day, and many of the customers can be seen dancing as they shop. Some even perform rap at the market open mic. On a recent visit, I noticed two men in wheel chairs sitting close to the music, grooving as they felt the beat moving them.

Watts Farmers Market is the newest SEE-LA market, located in a small park where the neighborhood’s median family income is at 56% of the national median, and 99% of the population is considered “minority”. The park features soccer and baseball fields. On a recent visit I noticed a group of six young men repeatedly asking for samples. One of the vendors became upset, so I approached the young men with a pint of strawberries which they gobbled down very quickly, and learned that they loved fresh fruits and vegetables. The issue, apparently, was their lack of money and the fact that their parents weren’t with them to actually purchase produce. Kaiser Permanente is helping to fund this market, which is a welcome addition to a community with few fresh (and especially organic) produce alternatives. Although we may intuitively know that this farmers market is a boon for the community in bringing healthy alternatives to residents, how do we get the larger population to frequent the market and adopt this as their own?

The Atwater Farmers Market recently celebrated its third anniversary by providing fresh carrot cake to all of those in attendance. This market features 30 vendors and recently added a vegan ice cream producer. As I watched one of the Asian immigrant vendors tend to her 11 month old baby and simultaneously wait on customers, I wondered what kind of life this woman had lived and how different her child’s life might be here in the U.S. Surely, for each individuals that make a farmers market come alive, there are many unspoken stories waiting to be told.

As the summer progresses, I look forward to listening to these stories and watching them unfold into the present tense. Later this year, not only will our data become available to the market community at large, but finalized versions of our survey instruments will become known as the Neighborhood Exchange Evaluation Device (NEED), adding to the growing number of tools to help markets effectively evaluate a range of impacts on their communities. For now, I’m enjoying participating in the vibrant orchestra that allows farmers markets to bring every type of person together in one place to celebrate some of the greatest things that life has to offer: food and community.

Many readers are probably familiar with the Farmers Market Promotion Program, a competitive grant program administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to assist in establishing, expanding, and promoting farmers markets and to promote direct producer-to-consumer marketing. In the past two years, limited funding for the program and a wealth of proposals has meant that only a small percentage could be funded in a given grant cycle.

If you haven’t paid attention to the nuances in the new Farm Bill, it might come as a welcome surprise that though only $1 million was announced for funding in 2008-2009, AMS will be able to award approximately $3 million to FMPP grantees this year. If you’ve submitted a proposal and are anxiously awaiting a decision on your project, sit tight. AMS reports that it will announce FMPP award selections by late September 2008, and funds will be made available to awardees beginning in October 2008. AMS received 225 proposals for funding this spring, down by 100 from the previous year. If those odds sound good, read ahead.

In the next funding cycle, $5 million will be available for FMPP grants, and proposals will be due in early spring. Stay tuned for the fall edition of Peas n’ News, where we will highlight these and other federal funding opportunities, along with some tips for proposal submission. In the meantime, those considering submitting a 2009 proposal can get an idea of what will be required by looking at the 2008 guidelines at www.ams.usda.gov/fmpp. Though spring seems a long way off, it can’t hurt to start sowing the seeds of success by jotting down ideas while the market season is in full swing. What else will germinate in the heat of August?

by Don Wambles, FMC President

As I look at news of weather related disasters across the country from floods, droughts, and tornadoes, I am reminded of the extremely difficult circumstances that our farmers deal with to provide us with food and fiber. Their resilience, even in the face of adversity, their hope for a better tomorrow, and our support provides the strength they need to carry on.

For those that have not been adversely affected by weather, crops have been bountiful. Consumers are flocking to farmers markets in droves to buy fresh, locally grown produce from local farmers. The demand for buying local continues to increase. This is great for our communities and great for farmers.

National Organic Program
It has come to my attention that there are state level Organic Certification Bodies documenting instances of farmers selling at farmers markets who are representing their products as organic in violation of the National Organic Program 7 CFR 205. I’d like to take this opportunity to remind farmers market managers and market masters of the importance of being up to speed on organics. Part of preserving the integrity of your market means that when your customers THINK they are buying organic, they really GET organic. It’s also the law. To use the name ‘organic,’ farmers must be certified unless they are selling less than $5,000 of organic product annually. Exemptions from certification are laid out in the NOP regulation § 205.101 as follows: (1) A production or handling operation that sells agricultural products as ‘organic’ but whose gross agricultural income from organic sales totals $5,000 or less annually is exempt from certification under Subpart E of this part and from submitting an organic system plan for acceptance or approval under § 205.101 but must comply with the applicable organic production and handling requirements of the Subpart C of this part and the labeling requirements of § 205.310. The products from such operations shall not be used as ingredients identified as organic in processed products produced by another handling operation.
Any operation that knowingly sells or labels a product as organic except in accordance with the NOP regulation is subject to an $11,000 fine per violation.

The entire regulation can be found on the NOP website at, as well as a more reader-friendly FAQ section. As a word of caution to our farmers markets and market vendors, be sure to comply with these guidelines. The long-term trust and patronage of your consumers depends upon your understanding of and commitment not only to the spirit of organic but to the legal implications of misrepresentation. For some helpful resources regarding the National Organic Program’s implications for farmers markets, please read “Organic Food: What Farmers Market Managers Need to Know,” prepared by FMC member Susan Smalley at the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University.

Farm Bill
By now, you probably know that the Farm Bill was finally passed in June by overriding the President’s veto for the second time. Finally, it is done! There are a lot of good things in the Bill and some that are not so good. Very briefly, let me focus on two very good programs that directly impact farmers markets and received mandatory funding through the Farm Bill. First, the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) funding is increased by $5.6 million annually for a total increase of $28 million over the life of the 5 year Bill. The SFMNP provides resources to senior citizens for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables from approved farmers at authorized farmers markets, roadside stands or CSAs.

Second, the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) which had only received discretionary funding in the past is now funded in the Farm Bill with $33 million of mandatory funding over 5 years. With the increase in funding, the FMPP will be able to assist more markets than in the past. Discretionary funding of $1 million annually has been replaced with mandatory funding of $3 million for 2008-2009, $5 million for 2009-2010 and $10 million annually for 2010-2012. FMC’s support for these increases and our efforts to help educate policymakers about the positive impacts of FMNPs and the FMPP have, we hope, yielded new opportunities for farmers markets around the country.

Membership Meeting
The FMC held its annual membership meeting for 2008 via the web during July 14-18. Before your jaw drops as the idea of a five day meeting, let me clarify that members were allowed to log in anytime convenient for them during that period to view reports, participate in a chat room, offer comments/ suggestions, and vote on bylaws amendments and a slate of new candidates for the Board. In addition, the Board received some valuable feedback from members on some potential definitions of farmers market that we hope will embrace diversity while maintaining integrity for our growing industry. We are delighted to welcome eight new leaders and four returning incumbents to the Board (including myself), and invite you to learn more about them in this newsletter. Here’s to a happy and healthy summer!

Now is the time to make sure your farmers market is listed in the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) national directory of farmers markets. Staff at AMS are currently updating the directory with the intention of announcing a new official number of farmers markets on or before Farmers Market Week. If you represent a farmers market, make sure to be included in this number and in future national surveys by sending your complete mailing address, e-mail address, and other pertinent contact information to Velma.Lakins@usda.gov. Please use the following format (using all the fields below as examples) to submit your market information:

USDA Farmers Market
Corner 12th St. & Independence Ave.
USDA Parking Lot
Washington, DC 20250
Contact: Velma Lakins
Phone: (202) 720-8317
E-Mail: velma.lakins@usda.gov
Website: http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets
Covered: No
WIC: Yes
SFMNP: No
EBT: No
Open Year-Round: No
June 6 - October 25
Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

In addition to the USDA directory, it’s also a good idea to start and annually maintain market listings on sites like localharvest.org, which offer a free profile, and which are becoming increasingly popular with consumers. New on the scene, with some exciting features, is Culinate, a site designed for food writing, blogging, and recipe sharing. Markets can not only set up profiles in their searchable directory, but can use it as their market blog and choose from a wide variety of fresh new recipes to add to their market page throughout the season. According to Co-Founder Mark Douglas, the site is already earning a loyal following among chefs, “foodies,” and consumers interested in sourcing local food. “All the things you need to help create wonderful meals using local and seasonal ingredients can be found online right now, but it is a daunting and time-consuming task to navigate those resources and manually connect each — Where is the market? What is in season now? Do I have the right recipe(s)? Do I know how to cook it? Culinate puts all this pieces together where each market is a uniquely managed space, but also where each market can connect as part of the larger community to all others with share news, recipes, stories and more. We are not about just locating a market, we are about building communities around great local and seasonal foods.” Learn more about how your market can establish a free web profile by visiting Culinate’s web site, calling Mark at 503-916-1777, or e-mailing him at mark@culinate.com.

Just in time for National Farmers Market Week, the Wallace Center has announced a second printing of their popular spiral bound farmers market resource guides, initially released late last fall. “Getting Started with Farmers Markets” is a colorful introduction to product diversity, display, pricing, and marketing techniques for vendors. “Recruiting Vendors for a Farmers Market” its companion publication, targets current and would-be market managers and sponsors. It features an introduction to market planning, promotion, and recruiting and retaining farmers, as well as eight brief case studies of market organizations around the United States.

Print-friendly PDFs of “Recruiting Vendors for a Farmers Market” and “Getting Started with Farmers Markets” are available as to preview on line on the Wallace Center web site. To receive free print copies to disseminate to vendors or managers at markets, events, or conferences, download and complete the request form here. Submit your completed request form to Matthew Kurlanski at the Wallace Center for Sustainable Agriculture by including it in an e-mail to mkurlanski@winrock.org.

It is generally agreed that product diversity at a farmers market attracts shoppers, and as time-conscious consumers, we all understand the value of one-stop shopping. Handiwork from local artisans and craftspeople can complement food products, reinforce in consumers’ minds the market as THE place to go for all things locally produced and potentially increase all vendors’ sales. On the other hand, markets designed with farmers as the primary beneficiary might rightfully cringe at the idea of having the market’s reputation devolve to that of a bargain barn with products of unknown origin. So how can a market expand its offerings beyond agricultural products while preserving, and even improving, its integrity as a purveyor of local farm products? Some markets only allow crafts that are agriculturally related, like ones made with wood or wool, or that directly complement the agricultural products, like a hand crafted ceramic vase or set of plates would be used for flowers and food. Recognizing that each market takes a unique approach to the issue of craftsmanship at markets, FMC asked Vic Gutman, FMC Member and Co-Founder of the Omaha Farmers Market, to explain his market’s policy.

By Vic Gutman

The issue of crafts is a perennial issue among farmers markets around the country. I can easily look at this dilemma from both perspectives. As a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, I helped establish an artists guild in the early 1970s. We lobbied the farmers market there to accept more craftspeople and to integrate them among the green growers. There was a strict cap on the number of crafts vendors that they would allow and they were relegated to a far flung corner of the market. The farmer vendors seemed to resent the crafters although they were popular with the buying public.

My company now manages (and started) Omaha’s largest arts festival and the Omaha Farmers Market. Although I sympathize, from a lifetime of working with artisans, their plight to make a living, I believe that it is imperative to strike a good balance of products at the farmers market. We have more vendors applying to participate in the market than we have spaces to allocate. This forces us to prioritize applications. We believe that it is essential to maintain the integrity of our market as a green market and not let it morph into something else - such as a crafts market or a flea market.

There are some who believe that a farmers market should only feature produce and fresh cut flowers and bedding plants. I’m not that much of a purist. I think that most of our customers appreciate a variety of products to choose from although they do expect that the majority of vendors will sell locally grown fruits, vegetables and flowers.
With all of this in mind, we have established the following guidelines:

1. At least 50% of our vendors each week must sell locally grown produce, flowers or bedding plants. This is the heart and soul of our market;
2. We cap hand-made crafts and art at a maximum of 20% of the vendors for any given week. This includes vendors who sell both produce and crafts. If a vendor sells both (and we have a few who do) we count them as a craft vendor;
3. Not more than 30% of the vendors in any given week can sell anything else, including baked goods, prepared foods, jams and jellies, handmade soap, etc.

What every vendor has in common is that they must personally grow it, bake it, make it or cook it or they can’t sell at the market.

The craft vendors at OFM are fully integrated into the market. They aren’t segregated or treated as second class vendors in any way. We don’t have a formal jury process, but I review all of the crafts vendor applications personally and confirm that everything sold is made by the applicant. We require slides or photographs of the work for first time vendors. Our list of permitted products, which is a supplement to the rules and regulations, makes clear to potential vendors from the beginning what is NOT allowed:
1. Anything you did not have a direct hand in making
2. Anything you are selling on consignment or purchased wholesale
3. Anything offensive to community taste standards
4. Anything not meeting the standards of the Omaha Farmers Market
5. Anything commercially produced, assembled from commercially available parts, plans, kits or cast from commercial molds.

I don’t believe that the presence of crafters affects the sales of our produce vendors. Most people coming to the market are there to purchase food and buy crafts on impulse. We have never had any complaints from farmers about the crafts and no farmer vendor has ever been turned away from selling at the market because of craft vendors. We will always find room for farmers, but there is a waiting list for crafts vendors.

We are considering starting a Sunday market that will have a different vendor mix. The Sunday market would allow for more crafts to be sold. We won’t call it a farmers market or promote it as a farmers market- it will probably be called the Sunday Market. We might even allow as much as 50% crafts at this market and a higher percentage of prepared food. We would probably hold this market only once a month during the warm weather months.

To see how other farmers markets approach artisanship, visit FMC’s growing selection of Sample Rules and Regulations. If you have a policy on crafts at market that you’d like to share as a sample for our upcoming on-line library, please e-mail it to submit@farmersmarketcoalition.org.

South Deerfield, MA — Farmers’ markets from all over New England are now able to communicate by email thanks to a new list-serv, the New England Farmers’ Market Exchange (NEFME) launched this week by Cooperative Development Institute (CDI).

“The response has been incredible,” says Lynda Brushett, CDI Senior Cooperative Development Specialist, “Markets are discussing everything from including craftspeople and artists in their markets to vendor insurance and liability issues, to bee control and more.”

This list-serv is a free, easy and convenient place to:

* Exchange ideas and resources
* Get and give advice
* Discuss issues
* Share challenges and successes
* Find out what other markets are doing
* Receive news about markets, workshops, publications
* And much more

The NEFME is a venue for finding new as well as tried and true ways markets, their sponsors and support organizations can help the region’s hundreds of markets and thousands of market vendors be even more successful.

For more information or to subscribe to the New England Farmers’ Market Exchange list-serv, please contact Laurie Siggillino Broussard at the Cooperative Development Institute: Tel. 413-665-1271 or toll free: 877-NE COOPS; Email: info@cdi.coop.

Support for the list-serv comes from Northeast Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education as part of an initiative to strengthen farmers’ markets across the New England region. Other farmers’ market resources can be found at www.cdi.coop.

CDI is in its fourteenth year of building a vibrant cooperative economy through the creation and support of successful, cooperatively structured businesses and networks in diverse communities across New England and New York. CDI also seeks to engage nationally to advance innovative cooperative economies.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) maintains an active intramural research program. The extramural program endeavors to support novel research efforts, expertise, and resources not found within CFSAN. In particular, it is intended that any additional extramural research efforts in food safety will complement the Center’s intramural research efforts, and generally enhance the Agency’s and the Nation’s ability to reduce the incidence of food borne illness and protect the integrity of the nation’s food supply. Grants of up to $500,000 are available to any domestic or foreign, public or private, for-profit or nonprofit entity (including State and local units of government).

Due date: August 2, 2008

Learn more about Food Safety Research: Investigations Focused on Promoting the Safety of Produce.

The purpose of the Agriculture and Rural Youth Grant Program is to fund projects, which will increase the knowledge and awareness of agricultural and rural issues in Pennsylvania, in particular, among the youth of Pennsylvania. The Program awards direct grants up to $2,500 and matching grants up to $10,000. Eligible youth organizations are those which are primarily comprised of persons eighteen years of age, or younger, and are organized within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to promote development in the areas of agriculture, rural community leadership, vocational training or peer fellowship.
Proposals are due October 31, 2008. Learn more about Pennsylvania Agricultural & Rural Youth Grant here.

The Leopold Center is seeking pre-proposals for its grant program. The Center’s work is organized in three initiative areas—ecology, marketing and food systems, and policy—each aimed at enhancing the condition and viability of Iowa’s natural resources in varying, yet integrated ways. These three initiatives have separate sections in the RFP. Investigators representing any Iowa nonprofit organization/agency and/or educational institution (such as soil and water conservation districts, schools and colleges, and regional development groups) are eligible to apply. The Center strongly encourages the involvement and collaboration of farmers, landowners, and farm-based businesses in the pre-proposal process.
Proposals are due August 18, 2008. Learn more about the Leopold Center Grant Program here.