Farmers markets feed growing demand for local, seasonal food

Farmers markets across the US kicked off their summer season last weekend at a time when many consumers are looking to source local food on concerns about tariffs, the global supply chain, inflation, health and food safety.

The trend toward eating local food when possible surged during the pandemic, and current concerns about new supply chain disruptions are shining an even brighter light on sourcing food closer to home.

Consumers have several reasons for frequenting farmers’ markets. A desire to support local businesses was the top reason cited by 38.2% of people surveyed last month by Trace One, while about 33% cited the availability of fresher and higher quality food.

After supermarkets, farmers markets are the second-most popular place where consumers purchase their local food, with 42.9% of survey respondents saying they shop at farmers markets.

The Trace One survey was done in April, as consumers were growing increasingly concerned about the potential for tariffs to drive shortages and higher prices for imported foods. Those worries are one of the latest drivers in buy-local trends that tend to ebb and flow over time, says Brian Bruno, owner of Apple Ridge Farm in Saylorsburg, Pa.

Food Inc. and the modern market movement

Apple Ridge Farm, has been a vendor at the Easton Farmers Market on and off for about two decades, during which time the business has grown and diversified. Today, it operates a bakery and sells meat and eggs as well as fresh seasonal produce at about 14 farmers markets per week. The company also sells direct to consumers at a small, on-farm store, and to local farm stands and small retailers within about 100 miles of the farm.

While demand for local food surged during the pandemic and the supply chain glitches that followed, Bruno sees a pattern that stretches back further than that – to the 2008 debut of the film Food Inc. and similar documentaries around that time that shone a harsh light on food production and sent many consumers scrambling for local sources of fresh whole foods, Bruno says.

“[That was really] the start of the modern market movement,” he says. ”It drove a lot of people to us, but those fads don’t usually last.”

Farmers markets and local producers benefited from that trend, and the following years brought ups and downs as external forces led people to local producers.

The pandemic and related supply chain issues once again buoyed business at farmers markets as well as CSA programs. In CSAs, or community supported agriculture programs, members pay a fee at the start of the season in exchange for regularly scheduled boxes filled with the fruits and vegetables that are ripe that week. The model helps farmers defray their upfront costs while assuring members a steady supply of fresh produce throughout the season.

“People were afraid of grocery stores not having food,” Bruno says of the pandemic times. “We had lines, there were tons of people. But again, it didn’t last.”

Most recently, the demand has been for eggs, which Apple Ridge produces using cage-free and organic methods that keep the prices higher than conventional eggs. Fears of shortages fueled irrational demand, Bruno says, and suddenly consumers were coming from all over “wanting to buy all the eggs we have,” he says.

The company saw a similar pattern during the pandemic when people would come from far afield and want to purchase all the pork Apple Ridge produced. Then, as now with eggs, the farm set a limit on the amount of pork that could be purchased to ensure a supply for loyal regulars.

To do otherwise would be doing “a disservice to our regular customers who come out in the rain, week after week,” Bruno says.

In the pandemic and beyond

The Easton Farmers Market started 273 years ago, making it the oldest continuously operating farmers market in the country. In recent decades, the market’s revival became a catalyst for economic development in the Pennsylvania town.

The market, like many others around the country, felt the impact of the pandemic, as food meant for wholesale accounts was shifted to retail channels after restaurants suddenly shut their doors and consumers embraced home cooking.

“There was way more demand, it was phenomenal,” Megan McBride, then-market district director for the Easton Farmers Market, told SmartBrief in 2021. “It was like people were discovering farmers’ markets and direct-to-consumer sales like never before.”

The situation put local producers front-and-center in big cities, small towns and rural areas across the country.

“The pandemic shutdowns and all the supply chain disruptions did get people thinking about the importance of the local food supply and how important it is to reinvest our dollars locally and to keep our local economies growing,” Reagin Choi of Ela Family Farms on Colorado’s Western Slope told Colorado Public Radio.

The farm’s owner, Steve Ela, sees a potential upside for markets this summer.

“We’ve also seen in harder economic times people actually spend more at the farmers’ markets because the effect is they’re going out to eat less and because they’re going out to eat less, they’re willing to spend a little bit more for what they’re eating at home and getting higher quality food,” Ela told CPR.

Farmers markets could also see a win as a result of cuts to the FDA and USDA staffing and budgets that are raising concerns about food safety.

On the flipside, current politics could also play a role in pinching income for farmers across the country this year and in the future.

Federal and state grant programs dedicated to food banks and other nonprofits that buy food directly from farmers when they have the cash have dried up substantially, said Bruno.

Further, proposals to cut federal benefits for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could create longer term pain for farmers and food producers who sell locally.

Thousands of farmers markets across the country now allow customers to pay with SNAP benefits, boosting the likelihood that lower-income consumers will be able to stretch their food budgets while buying healthy, seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Redemption of SNAP benefits at farmers markets and through direct-to-consumer sales by farmers grew 162% between 2017 and 2021, according to USDA data compiled by the Farmers Market Coalition, a national nonprofit that helps strengthen farmers markets to better serve their communities and the farmers that depend on them.

Farmers markets also play a key role in the future of domestic food production. As the average age of farmers continues to climb and more age out, “farmers markets provide one of the only low-barrier entry points for new farmers, ranchers, and food entrepreneurs allowing them to start small and test new products,” according to a Farmers Market Coalition report. “For young and beginning farmers direct marketing through CSAs and farmers markets make up the majority of their income.”

A few fresh facts about farmers markets:

Despite its short growing season compared to much of the country, the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington market ranks first among large metro areas for the number of farmers markets and CSAs at 257 or 6.9 per 100,000 people. Among the states, Vermont tops the list with 20.1 per 100,000 residents, according to data compiled by Trace One.
What’s in season varies by region and some markets and marketing groups offer handy charts to figure out what’s available in your area, from Jersey Fresh in the Garden State to Colorado Fresh Markets in the Rocky Mountain region to the San Francisco Environment Department on the West Coast.
Heading to your farmers market this weekend? Eater’s Hillary Pollack offers advice on carrying the reusable bag that best fits your personality and persona.