The US should invest in farmers' markets, report says
Farmers' markets provide fresh food 鈥� and generate local revenue and jobs 鈥� says the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Apples on sale at a farmers' market stand at the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City.
FRANCES M. ROBERTS/Newscom/File
Every economist knows that there is no such thing as a free lunch, but if you buy the ingredients for your lunch 鈥� or breakfast or dinner 鈥� at a farmers market you could help provide a much needed boost to the economy.
A by the stresses the importance of in generating local revenue and creating jobs, and identifies a number of steps the US government should take to encourage the growth of farmers' markets.
While the number of farmers' markets nationwide more than between 2000 and 2010, from 2,863 to 6,132, the report鈥檚 author, , argues that more government resources could be used to support farmers markets.
鈥淥n the whole, farmers markets have seen exceptional growth, providing local communities with fresh food direct from the farm,鈥� Mr. O鈥橦ara points out. 鈥淭he fact that farmers are selling directly to the people who live nearby means that sales revenue stays local. That helps stabilize local economies.鈥�
But if the federal government is going to make good on to help provide entrepreneurial training and support for farmers' markets as part of efforts to get 100,000 Americans to become farmers by next year, the government is going to need to use the 2012 to prioritize funding for farmers' markets.
Last year the spent nearly in commodity, crop insurance, and supplemental disaster assistance payments to support industrial agriculture, while less than was spent on supporting local food producers.
The report outlines a number of ways that the government could stimulate the growth of farmers markets.
The report鈥檚 recommendations include government funding to 500 to 2,500 farmers' markets over a five-year period.
O鈥橦ara estimates that these funds, along with , could help create as many as . The report also recommends that the government invest more money in local infrastructure, such as meat-processing facilities, to increase the efficiency of small-scale farmers.
Lastly, the report recommends that the be expanded to allow low-income residents to purchase high-quality produce at farmers markets.
鈥淚f the US government diverted just a small amount of the massive subsidies it lavishes on industrial agriculture to support these markets and small local farmers, it would not only improve American diets, it would generate tens of thousands of new jobs,鈥� O鈥橦ara concludes.
To read more about farmers markets, see: , and .
鈥� Graham Salinger is a research intern for the Nourishing the Planet project.
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鈥� originally appeared at , a blog produced by the .
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