Download this as a brochure. Should there be a farmers’ market in your town? Of what value is a farmers’ market in a town? What is a Farmers’ Market? A farmers’ market is not a random collection of tailgate vendors. It is a self-policing non-profit organization that consists of farmers, gardeners, bakers, specialty food producers and/or […]
Articles
Local Food: Perspectives from farmers, chefs, locavores and others
June 14, 2012 CategoriesThe Turkey Farm has a good article in their Summer 2002 edition of The Turkey Times newsletter on An easier way to food security. It’s about half way down the page, and talks about how small local farms make for better food security than large distant farms. Local Food is fully discussed pro and con at the […]
Farmers’ market publications
June 12, 2012 CategoriesBy Tom Roberts Print and web-based information sources for information about farmers’ markets and farmers’ market culture. And other farm-related publications of interest to small scale farmers. Orono Farmers’ Market 1996 Consumer Survey done by University analysts. The Best of Selling Outdoors, 2011 edition [pdf 1.6mB]. A compilation of the best articles from the MFFM […]
The spectrum from peddler’s market to producer’s market
November 9, 2011 CategoriesThinking about Farmers’ Markets There are lots of ways to direct-market foods at a farmers’ market, some of which perhaps not everyone is familiar with. To better visualize the distinctions among them, it is often helpful to such arrange variations on a theme along a spectrum. This article is presented as a description of what […]
Don’t Use Hanson Hanging Scales
December 22, 1992 Categoriesby Tom Roberts, Selling Outdoors, 1992. The first issue of Selling Outdoors contained an article about the State Bureau of Weights and Measures ruling on the Hanson scales that are commonly used at farmers’ markets. That ruling made it clear that in 1992 there should be no more Hanson hanging scales in use at markets. […]
U or I? The shape of your market
December 22, 1990 Categoriesby Tom Roberts (article from 1990’s Selling Outdoors) Larger markets, those with more than six or eight members regularly attending, often abandon the straight line style setup of smaller markets. Instead, they adopt a double line or “U” shape, where the marketers set up in two lines with displays facing one another. Orono and Camden […]
To peddle or not to peddle
December 22, 1990 Categoriesby Tom Roberts (from 1990’s Selling Outdoors) Whether to allow market members to buy some or all of what they sell could be a hotly debated subject or an easy consensus. Which occurs at your market depends upon your market’s history and its current makeup, as well as on your members’ vision of what your […]
Buying in for resale
December 9, 1990 Categories(article from 1990’s Selling Outdoors) There are few questions which bring more division among market ranks than whether to allow buying for re-selling, and if so under what terms. The state law, of course, says a seller at a farmers’ market must have at least 75% of their items grown by them, and 100% of […]
Filling market voids
December 9, 1990 Categories(article from 1990’s Selling Outdoors) Does your market have voids? This is another way of asking if there are times during the year when an item is in season, but no one at your market is offering it. Some markets, especially new ones, often don’t recognize that “market voids” or “supply gaps” are one of […]