Farmer perspectives on farmers markets in low-income urban areas: a case study in three Michigan cities
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Farmer perspectives on farmers markets in low‑income urban areas: a case study in three Michigan cities Dru Montri1 · Kimberly Chung2 · Bridget Behe3 Accepted: 21 August 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Farmers markets in low-income, urban areas (LIUA) struggle to establish and sustain themselves. Accordingly, farmer recruitment and retention remain a challenge. This paper examines the perspectives of farmers who have been recruited to participate in farmers markets located in LIUA. Taking an ethnographic approach, we seek to understand why farmers join, stay, and/or leave newly-developed farmers market in LIUA. In-depth interviews revealed different motivations for joining new LIUA markets and that these motivations were closely tied to farmers’ reasons for farming. We identified four categories of motivations: farming as (1) a primary livelihood strategy; (2) a new business opportunity; (3) recreation; (4) a social mission. Retention differed across these motivational categories. Farmers who joined LIUA farmers markets to support their livelihoods were the most likely to drop out of these markets. Farmers who used the farmers market to explore a new business opportunity were less likely to drop out and those who farmed for recreation or for a social mission were most loyal and did not drop out. The results indicate that understanding the motivations of farmers may be crucial to retaining farmers at LIUA farmers markets. They also indicate that farmers who are most suited to LIUA farmers markets may be currently overlooked by market managers who regularly target full-time livelihood vendors. These findings have implications for creating more stable farmers markets in LIUA. Keywords Farmer · Farmers market · Direct marketing · Lifestyle business · Low-income · Vendor recruitment and retention Abbreviations LIUA Low-income, urban areas SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program USDA United States Department of Agriculture PPS Project for Public Spaces
* Dru Montri [email protected] Kimberly Chung [email protected] Bridget Behe [email protected] 1
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University, 446 W. Circle Dr., Room 409, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
2
Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, 480 Wilson Rd, Room 131, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
3
Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, 1066 Bogue St., Room A238, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Introduction Rapid growth in the farmers market industry over the past 25 years has led to increased competition for farmer-vendors and created challenges for communities trying to start new farmers markets. Since 1994, the number of farmers markets has increased dramatically from 1755 to 8771 in 2019 (United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2020). At the same time, research has shown that disparities exist in the availability of farmers markets within the United States (Schupp 2019; Singleton et al. 2015). Schupp (2019) analyzed USDA and American Community Survey data and found t
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