Social

Farmers markets are fun! Farmers markets are important social events. People run into friends and talk, or meet new ones including farmers to exchange recipes. In fact, some markets have adopted the slogan: "Come for the freshness; stay for the fun!"

Some say that the attraction of farmers' markets is fundamentally a human one. Shoppers at farmers’ markets have seven times as many social interactions in a farmers' market as they do in a grocery store! Certainly, they are a return to a form of business and social interaction common for thousands of years, where consumers purchased goods more directly from those who produced them.

Customers come to trust farmers. Other customers intuitively follow that trust. The relationship one has with a produce clerk who doesn’t know what country the tomatoes come from simply can’t compare with a friendship with a farmer who can tell you what his soil tastes like, why she doesn’t irrigate, how the Ace compares with a Zebra, the recipe for her best sauce, or how many weeks before he says so-long for the season.

Urban/Rural Connection

Many farmers as well as consumers report that the farmer-consumer bond is the heart and soul of the markets. An article in NW Health (May/June 1995) noted: "These stalls of sustenance may be the last place where many people can reconnect with food and its sources. The growers' offerings, which vary week to week, remind us that there is a season for everything."

Community Benefits

A successful farmers' market can be a tremendous resource for a community, large or small. Fresh food is available at a reasonable price, the local agricultural economy as well as the marketplace area receives an economic boost, and a festive and community-enhancing social center draws people together. Farmers’ markets, in addition, help fight hunger through their participation in food recovery programs and federally funded subsidy programs.

Gathering place

When Shakespeare comes to the Ithaca Farmers’ Market alongside central New York’s Cayuga Lake, people are reminded of the market’s role in integrating economic, social and cultural activities in one place.

Barriers bridged

Whenever people from various walks of life cross paths, there is an opportunity for learning. Stereotypes are broken. Voters no longer look dispassionately at rural issues when farming friends may be affected.

In many communities a politician cannot be elected without campaigning at the farmers’ market. In San Luis Obispo, California, every candidate is given three minutes on a flatbed trailer festooned with red, white and blue bunting. "Thursday Night" is about more than simply food transactions; it is a community event.

Economic revitalization

Farmers' markets transform cities. City planners nationwide now recognize the value of the farmers' market. They have evidence that it revitalizes a downtown area like nothing else, by creating an active meeting place and income-producing community. More and more cities are viewing farmers’ markets as a positive addition to their cities. The National Main Street Program has incorporated markets as a vehicle to rejuvenate declining downtown areas.

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