Links and Resources: Farmers’ Markets

Articles, reports, and books behind the planning and benefits of farmers’ markets.

Books

Black, White and Green: Farmers Markets, Race and the Green Economy, Alkon. (2012)

Black, White, and Green is one of the first books to carefully theorize the green economy, to examine the racial dynamics of food politics, and to approach issues of food access from an environmental-justice perspective.

Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods, Nabhan. (2001)

Gary Paul Nabhan reminds us that eating close to home is not just a matter of convenience—it is an act of deep cultural and environmental significance


Farmers’ Markets: Success, Failure, and Management Ecology
, Stephenson. (2008)

As an applied study, the book provides information and recommendations to assist markets with decision-making and strategic planning. Although the focus of this research is on one area in the United States, the findings have broad application.

Food Atlas, Jensen, Roy. (2013)

“Food: An Atlas” is an atlas of the geography of food; A cooperatively-created, crowd-sourced and crowd-funded project of guerrilla cartography.

Garlic Testament: Seasons Spent On A New Mexico Farm, Crawford. (1992)

From his New Mexico mountain home, award-winning author Stanley Crawford writes about growing garlic and selling it.

Public Markets And Civic Culture In Nineteenth Century America, Tangires. (2003)

Helen Tangires examines the role of the public marketplace — social and architectural — as a key site in the development of civic culture in America.

Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Movement Is Changing The Way That We Eat, Denckla Cobb. (2011)

Reclaiming Our Food tells the stories of people across the United States who are finding new ways to grow, process, and distribute food for their own communities. Their successes offer both inspiration and practical advice.

The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jacobs. (2002, first published 1961)

The first real alternative to conventional city planning that we have had in this century. Its author is direct and practical in her approach. What, she asks, makes cities work? 

The Logic Of Sufficiency, Princen. (2005)

With examples ranging from timbering and fishing to automobile and meat production, Princen shows that sufficiency is perfectly sensible and yet absolutely contrary to modern society’s dominant principle, efficiency.

The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality In Local Food, Hewitt. (2010)

The captivating story of a small town coming back to life, The Town That Food Saved is narrative nonfiction at its best: full of colorful characters and grounded in an idea that will revolutionize the way we eat.

Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine, Terry. (2009)

Vegan Soul Kitchen recipes use fresh, whole, high-quality, healthy ingredients and cooking methods with a focus on local, seasonal, sustainably raised food.

Farmers’ Markets: Success, Failure, and Management Ecology. Stephenson, G. O. (2008). Cambria Press.


Reports

When writing a grant or publishing results of a project, it is often useful to cite existing reports on the same subject. This is a list (as of 2013) of some of the most useful and comprehensive reports on markets and on direct marketing. To find these reports, try Google Scholar: type in either the name of the report or the authors and year published. They are often available in academic libraries or for a fee in libraries like Wiley. If you have a partnership with a university, they may be able to get you these reports easily.

Arneson McCormack, L., Nelson, Laska M., Larson, N. I., & Story, M. (2010). Review of the nutritional implications of farmers’ markets and community gardens: a call for evaluation and research efforts. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 110 (3), 399-408.

Briggs, A. Fisher, M. Lott, S.Miller, N. Tessman. (2010). Real food, real choice: Connecting SNAP recipients with farmers markets. Community Food Security Coalition

Blanck HM, Thompson OM, Nebeling L, Yaroch AL. Improving fruit and vegetable consumption: use of farm-to-consumer venues among US adults. Prev Chronic Dis 2011;8(2). //www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2011/mar/10_0039.htm.

Brown, Cheryl, and Stacy Miller. 2008. The impact of local markets: A review of research on farmers markets and community supported agriculture. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 90:1296-302.

Francis, M., and Griffith, L. (2011). The Meaning and Design of Farmers’ Markets as Public Space An Issue-Based Case Study. Landscape Journal, 30(2), 261-279.

Fried, Benjamin. 2005. For the health of it: Farmers markets boost the prospects of low-income communities with fresh, wholesome food. Project for Public Spaces. https://www.pps.org/articles/ for-the-health-of-it/

Grace, C., Grace, T., Becker, N., & Lyden, J. (2007). Barriers to using urban farmers’ markets: an investigation of food stamp clients’ perceptions. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 2(1), 55-75.

Harvie, Jamie. 2007. Farmers’ markets and CSA’s on hospital grounds. In Going green: A resource kit for pollution prevention in health care, 4. Arlington, VA: Health Care Without Harm.

Hinrichs, Clare C., Gilbert W. Gillespie, and Gail W. Feenstra. 2004. Social learning and innovation at retail farmers’ markets. Rural Sociology 69:31-58.

Montri, D. N., Behe, B. K., & Chung, K. (2013). Using a Case Approach to Assess Farmers’ Attitudes Regarding Central Terminal Model Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Programs at Selected Michigan Farmers Markets.HortTechnology, 23(1), 38-43.

Moon, J. Robin. 2006. Public markets and community health: An examination. 69 pp. New York: Project for Public Spaces.

Morales, Alfonso, and Gregg Kettles 2009. Healthy food outside: Herein of farmer’s markets, taco trucks, and sidewalk fruit vendors. Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 26:20-48.

Project for Public Spaces. 2003. Public markets & community-based food systems making them work in lower-income neighborhoods. New York: Project for Public Spaces, Inc. //www.pps.org/pdf/Kellog_Report_2002-3.pdf

Ragland, Edward, and Debra Tropp. 2009. National farmers market manager survey 2006, 100 pp. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture.

Raja, Samina, Branden Born, and Jessica Kozlowski Russell. 2008. A planners guide to community and regional food planning. Chicago: American Planning Association

Stephenson, Garry, Larry Lev, and Linda Brewer. 2008. ‘I’m getting desperate’: What we know about farmers’ markets that fail. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 23:188-99.

Tiemann, Thomas K. 2008. Grower-only farmers’ markets: Public spaces and third places. Journal of Popular Culture 41:467-87.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Research and Analysis, Nutrition Assistance in Farmers Markets: Understanding Current Operations by Sujata Dixit-Joshi et al. Project Officer: Eric Sean Williams, Alexandria, VA: April 2013.

Updated 12/2013

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