This series of briefings provides analysis and recommendations for Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) on crucial issues for regional sustainability.
Farmers' markets are food markets where local farmers and producers bring their produce for sale direct to the public. In 1997 there were no farmers markets in the UK. Now there are 200 with a total turnover of £65 million a year. Farmers, local economies, consumers and the environment all benefit from farmers' markets. Farmers' markets are:
Good for the local economy because:
Good for farmers because:
Good for consumers and the environment because:
Evidence from the UK and other countries, such as the USA, clearly shows that the potential for further growth in farmers' markets is substantial. Although at least four of every five established farmers' markets are self-financing, support is required to encourage their development, help with start-up costs and networking at a regional level. RDAs are in an ideal position to provide such support.
Farmers' markets help deliver on three of the central aims of RDAs.
1 Securing regeneration
Farmers' markets strengthen local economies and safeguard local jobs because money stays within the local economy, as it is spent on local produce. Keeping money within an area is an important aspect of regeneration, that tends to be overlooked in comparison with the traditional regeneration techniques which focus on of bringing money into an area. The Government's National Strategy on Neighbourhood Renewal identifies encouraging activities that keep money in neighbourhoods as a key idea for reviving local economies.
For rural regeneration leakage of money from the local economy is a problem. A recent Government report stressed that "without a strong local economic base, many rural communities risk becoming little more than dormitory facilities for urban commuters". Farmers' markets not only mean that money is spent on produce from local farms but local shops and services also benefit from increased sales. In Winchester, on farmers' market days, local stores reported 30% increases in takings over the same day in previous years. In contrast spending at supermarkets results in a much greater proportion of the money leaving the local economy immediately.
Farmers' markets are a key way to increase the economic vitality of market towns. Several RDAs have identified the decline in market towns as a priority for action. The increasing centralisation of services, competition from out-of-town complexes, the loss of farming jobs and a lack of investment have all weakened the economic position of these towns many of which no longer have markets. The increased turnover for market town businesses on the days when farmers' markets operate and the re-forging of an economic link between towns and farms are a key elements for revitalising these towns as focal points for healthy rural economies.
2 Encouraging enterprise
Farmers' markets act as a spur for business start-ups and the growth of new SMEs. In the USA the Department of Agriculture believes farmers' markets "play a vital role in enabling small to medium sized growers to gain access to consumers. Without this access the existence of many small-sized growers would be threatened". They found that 81% of farmers at nine farmers' markets benefited from the ability to trial new products. This is important because smaller farmers in particular have found it difficult to invest in the conventional systems for making products 'market ready'. The networks fostered by farmers' markets and the new business skills gained by farmers attending them also encourage collaboration in new enterprises. Farmers collaborate with food processors, such as butchers, to produce and market new and better products. Small-scale food producers rely heavily upon local retail outlets during their start-up phase and continue to rely upon them as they develop. Farmers' markets can also help sustain and build up these local food networks.
Farmers' markets encourage farmers to learn new entrepreneurial skills. For two generations entrepreneurial activity in the farming community has been undermined by direct subsidised support linked to production. Farmers' markets require farmers to acquire new skills - such as product development, marketing and retailing. A survey of farmers in New Mexico found that 75% of those selling at farmers' markets had improved their marketing and business skills as a result.
3 Integrating economic, social and environmental goals
Farmers' markets bring sustainable growth that can reduce social exclusion. Socially excluded communities gain the most when money is circulated within a local economy. Farmers' markets help keep money in the local economy. It is a myth that farmers' markets have to be directed solely at middle-class consumers. In the US, farmers' markets work well in poorer communities and have a crucial role to play in making fresh fruit and vegetables available where they weren't before, or making them available at lower prices. In the UK farmers' markets have a strong potential to help deal with the problem of 'food deserts' in inner cities, caused by the exodus of supermarkets to out-of-town sites.
Farmers' markets bring sustainable growth that increases quality of life. People enjoy going to farmers' markets and not just because they are vibrant social occasions. A survey at three English farmers' markets in 1999 found that 79% of customers included supporting local farmers as a reason for attending. The US Department of Agriculture recognises the importance of farmers' markets in reconnecting people with where their food comes from, who grows it, and how it is grown. This process increases quality of life by strengthening communities, forging stronger links between rural and urban areas and potentially forming a longer-term partnership between local consumers and local farms. In September 1999, the Winchester farmers' market attracted 13,000 people, 97% of whom wanted to go to more farmers' markets.
Farmers' markets bring sustainable growth that reduces environmental damage. The current high level of food wastage is reduced as farmers' markets offer an outlet for good food that is discarded because it doesn't fit supermarkets' packaging requirements or because the supermarket changes its order at the last minute. Food sold at farmers' markets also requires less transport and consequently less processing, packaging and preserving than food transported to distant centralised warehouses before being hauled to supermarkets. Farmers' markets also increase consumer interest in better quality food produced by less environmentally damaging types of farming. For example, in an English farmers' market survey, 57% of customers cited access to organic food as a reason for attending.
Each RDA has the opportunity to secure the benefits of farmers' markets - set out in this briefing - by integrating measures to promote and support them in its Action Plans. How each RDA can do this best will be defined by regional circumstances, but five broad areas of action can be taken by all RDAs:
Provide support for regional networks of farmers' markets. One of the most cost-effective ways of supporting and encouraging farmers' markets is through establishing regional networks. These can provide a one-stop information service for farmers and can facilitate information exchange between farmers and the managers of individual farmers' markets. Training for both farmers and market managers on promotion, developing partnerships and business strategy can be provided through manuals and workshops. Regional networks can also play an important role in ensuring the authenticity of markets, promoting markets to the public and co-ordinating days of operation within the network.
If each RDA provided £25,000 over a three year period for supporting such a network in its region matched funding could be found - for example from sources such as the National Farmers Union, Local Authorities or elements of the Rural Development Regulation, like the Rural Enterprise Scheme. This would enable a regional network to employ a co-ordinator. Such funding should continue until the networks are self-supporting as they have become in the US.
Promote farmers' markets through regional branding initiatives. The Government aims to "ensure that British people have access to the top quality foods our countryside produces, restoring regional distinctiveness and variety". Most RDAs have programmes or strategies to increase and improve regional branding. These programmes should recognise the role to be played by farmers' markets and integrate them into the relevant section of the Action Plans.
Encourage and support the inclusion of farmers' markets in regeneration proposals. Farmers' markets help deliver on all the five key national priorities for regeneration. RDAs in their regeneration strategies for both SRB and rural regeneration should seek out and encourage proposals that will develop farmers' markets.
Install the promotion of farmers' markets within rural economy programmes, including the revitalisation of market towns. Beyond specific rural regeneration projects, most RDAs have a wider rural development strategy and farmers' markets should be integrated within this. Actions that can be taken are: covering farmers' markets within programmes for advice and training aimed at rural businesses; including farmers' markets in targets for delivering projects through the Rural Development Programme; including the number of farmers' markets in any set of rural indicators; and placing farmers' markets within the core of any strategy to revitalise market towns.
Set a target for the development of farmers' markets within the region of the next five years. In order to provide a goal for these actions each RDA can set a target for the development of farmers' markets.
A longer briefing on the economic benefits of farmers' markets is available
from Friends of the Earth. For a copy, send an A4 SAE to the Information
and Enquiries Unit, Friends of the Earth 26-28 Underwood Street, London
N1 7JQ, or download
this file in PDF† format.
UK links
National Association
of Farmers' Markets (NAFM) for a list of all farmers' markets in
the UK by county and information on setting up farmers' markets.
List of
London farmers' markets
US links
USDA
farmers' market site
Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education
†To view PDF files you will need to download
Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these
documents from access.adobe.com.
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Email: info@foe.co.uk
Website: www.foe.co.uk
September 2000
Friends of the Earth
Last modified: June 2001
