National Farmers Markets Week

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Farmers markets are important institutions for local farmers. That’s because when you buy your food and at traditional food outlets, only 15 percent of the price you’ve paid goes to the farmer. That’s why farmers markets mean that much, since there your all the money goes to the farmers directly. National farmer’s market week is therefore an institution that Texas farmers should take advantage of. This is also an event that should be important for the whole community since it gives you a chance to make long-term arrangements with local businesses and promote a healthy diet for your family.

Set Your Own Stand

In Texas, most families are both the consumers of these goods and their producers. That’s because farming is such a large part of the local economy. Don’t hesitate to take part in the national farm week in both ways at once.

Set up your own stand even if you own just a small farm that sells a few produce. That will allow you to visit the market as a buyer, but also to make a few sales yourself and to showcase your produce to the community as well.

Leave A Card

If you don’t plan to take part in the Farmers market week, you could still use the event to promote your small farm. This could be done simply by making business cards and leaving them with a few large stands. That way you could reach new customers even without taking part in the event yourself.

It’s also a good idea to talk to the stand owners with whom you’ll leave a card. That way they can answer a few extra questions about your business and even recommend you if someone ask them when taking the card.

Try Something New

When you’re visiting the farmers market as a buyer, you should take the advantage of the variety of produce you could find there. It’s useful to use this opportunity to try new produce and to create possible long term relationships with other farmers. If you find the produce you like, you can come back to the farmers you’ve found and work with them in the future.

There are also many workshop and lectures in these events. You should use them as well. Even if fermentation doesn’t seem like something you might try in your household, it doesn’t help to learn about it, and that’s the kind of workshops you could find.

Create A Menu

It’s also useful to create a menu while you’re on the spot. That way you’ll know you’ll have the produce you need to cook all the meals you plan to. It’s important therefore not to go by a list of produce, but an actual menu meaning that you think about how the produce could be used on the spot.

This will also be a great opportunity to experiment and to talk to farmers that can help you improve your menu and show you can how it can be different and more diverse.

Network

One of the most important functions of these markets is that they bring people together. There will be a lot of different farmers there and that creates an opportunity to mingle and network. This goes beyond just farmers. All kinds of shops and businesses benefit from having a farmer in their network.

There are sometimes panels that you could use for this purpose, or it can be done informally simply by making connections and talking to others that you find could be interesting and useful for your business or your household.

Support The Farmers Market

The markets themselves need to be supported since they take time, effort and energy to organize and manage. They are usually funded in two ways – the farmers that earn for it pay a fee and everyone who visit could provide some sort of support. This is something you should take part in even if in a modest way.

There are often other causes supported by the market. You should take the time to learn about these and support them as well or get involved in them in a deeper way latter on if it’s a cause you truly believe in.

Conclusion

National farmers market week is a week-long event that is made to put farmers markets front and center in the public eye. These markets play a big role in the communities they are based in since they are the places for people to meet, learn about the industry and healthy lifestyles and to buy fresh produce that can be trusted.

If you’re also a farm owner you should take advantage of the event to promote your business and to make connections with other farmers working in your industry and in your area. That’s something that can help your work in the years to come.

Want to become a farmers market vendor? Click here!