Tuesday Market: An Integrated Management Approach Leverages a Small Farmers Market for Synergistic Community Benefits
ISSN 2158-9429
Volume 16, Issue 1 - June 2023
Editor: Linda Chalker-Scott
Abstract
Beginning farmers who wish to engage in direct-to-consumer sales need scale-appropriate opportunities to increase their product volume and develop sales and marketing skills. A small mid-week farmers market in Moscow, ID, the Tuesday Market, has been identified as an important community asset. With support from a citizen advisory committee and with UI Extension staff, intern, and volunteer help, UI Extension adopted the coordination of the Tuesday Market. An integrated management approach led to the achievement of synergistic educational and community development goals. Over a four-year period, the market expanded in terms of dollars spent, increased the number of customers, and increased the number of weekly vendors. In 2022, the market was awarded a $250,000 USDA Agricultural Marketing Service grant to fund new marketing activities for the Tuesday Market including advertising, value-added food research and training, and development of an online farmers market. The goal of the grant is to increase the number of customers and profits for farmers.
Keywords: farmers market, economic development, community development, social capital, fresh food access, farmer veterans
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