Why Are So Many Farmers Markets Failing ?
The comfortable answer is “because the market is saturated”, but there are many more subtle economic reasons. This is my attempt at answers for why so many local markets have closed.
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- Farmers markets charge fees for participation since there are usually additional costs involved such as management, advertising, facility rental etc.
- Most, if not all, markets require participants to provide proof of liability insurance for their products. Typical coverage required is a million dollar policy, sometimes more.
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- Unlike big agriculture, which picks their crop prior to it reaching maturity in order to accommodate distribution delay, local farmers pick their crops at peak freshness and deliver them to the market in that condition. Whatever produce isn’t sold that day at a farmers market becomes a liability to the farmer since it rapidly loses its freshness and appearance.
- Four to five hours spent commuting and tending to the market incurs a cost.
- There are many farmers who offer meats, fruits or vegetables that are certified “organic” or “grass fed”. This is a costly and often bureaucratic-heavy process but are pesticide, herbicide and GMO free, demanding a premium.
Buying food from local farmers supports your local community and you get to meet, learn from and connect a face to the provider of your food. Unfortunately many farmers, finding it difficult to recover these added costs within the market venue, turn instead to a CSA (community supported agriculture) model.
Through the CSA model, waste is minimized, farmers get to spend time marketing the food early in the year before their 16 hour days in the field begin. They receive payment early in the season, improving the farm’s cash flow and, sometimes several farmers will offer their products together, providing a wider variety to their share holders. There seems to be many advantages to the CSA model resulting in its growing (pun intended) popularity.
How do you feel about this?
