1. INTRODUCTION
Today’s farmers’ market is a space and place created by the small-scale farmer, customer and the farmers’ market administrator. Its existence is threatened by the formal structure of agricultural commerce that emerged in the 1960’s. The persistence of these select actors has maintained the viability of the farmers’ market. In regard to urban design, the farmers’ market emerges as a robust, or adaptable, center that enhances economic activity, provides inherent education through participatory landscapes, and facilitates a sense of place.
Mass production, over consumption, and over distribution have all made small production less profitable, yet the marketing of agricultural products on a small scale is one strategy that is being used for many farmers to keep their practice viable. Farmers’ markets sales are a niche where the small farm can remain small and still remain viable. Many of these family farms would have had to sell out to large, corporate agriculture. “Small Farms cannot survive selling to national wholesalers” (Gratz, 1998, p. 210). It is good fortune for the small farmer that the consumer market continues to grow in support of farmers’ market commerce.
Centralized industrial agriculture has grown to capture nearly all of food sales, yet customer demand has been crucial to keep the farmers market from dying out. From 1946 to 1970 the number of farmers markets in America dropped from 455 to 342 (Brown, 2002). From 1970, retail farmers’ markets have grown to 3155 in 2003 (Lydia Oberholtzer and Shelly Grow, 2003).
As these numbers indicate, a growing number of consumers are still looking for an alternative to the modern grocery store. These consumers are concerned about getting the best quality food. From the 1990’s, the farmers’ market has also become part of the new social trend of healthy lifestyles for customers. Some customers desire to know the origin of their food and others prefer a local source. Individual farmers’ markets meet these demands while also becoming social events where families and friends gather in a weekly ritual. This way, the once nearly extinct farmers market is once again become a viable institution.
Providing a place for the farmers’ market, administrators create spaces that can “stimulate social interaction, foster new business, preserve historic buildings, and stabilize downtown districts or small commercial districts” (Gratz, 1998, p. 211). Administrators oriented toward the farmer help to provide farmers with viable direct marketing opportunities. Community oriented administrators seek to create social centers for the benefit of the surrounding area. Administrators who are more commercially oriented seek to attract people to their own or surrounding businesses. Most farmers’ market administrators are a combination of the three.
The actions of these three actors –the small farmers, the customers, and farmers’ market administrators-- generate a sense of place for the farmers’ market. Place, scale, adaptability, formation of centers, social activity and education are important factors that create vibrant urban places. While the farmers’ market is created by these actors, the place –the farmers’ market-- also plays a key role in forming the institution. Robust in its ability to adapt to physical, political, and economic changes, the farmers’ market has emerged as a center of activity. It draws crowds of people that, in turn, spend money to support the businesses. The farmers’ market also provides a social space that is highly educational. These three actors and the space they create all have a part in creating an environment that supports individual interests.
Method
I seek to demonstrate the contribution of farmers, customers, and farmers’ market administrators to the building of the institution and particularly the space of the farmers market and how it in return benefits each of them. I shall focus on the urban design of the farmers’ market. I will show how the farmers have struggled to keep their business viable, how customer demand has continued to provide room for new niche markets for farmers, and how and why the farmers’ market administrator has provided space where the above actors can meet. Finally, I will examine the urban design of the farmers’ market to discover the urban space these three actors have created.
Individual small-scale farmers, farmers’ market administrators, and customers, contribute to the institution and design of each market every time it is performed. I focus on the individual growers who sell at two or more of the following markets during the week to help compare and contrast the different farmers’ markets within which they sell. The following five Central Indiana farmer’s markets were examined with particular attention paid to the three actors (farmers, customers, and administrators). The farmers’ markets include: “Minnetrista Farmers’ Market” and “East Central Indiana’s (ECI) Natural Heritage Farmers’ Market” in Muncie and “Traders Point Green Market,” “Broad Ripple Farmers’ Market,” and “The Original Farmers’ Market” in Indianapolis. The form (spatial, temporal, and social) of the farmers’ market has been examined through the use of criteria by the experts in the field of urban design particularly Jon Lang, Kevin Lynch, and Christopher Alexander.
I have selected these five farmers markets because they have strong differences. Each city has a diversity of farmers’ markets to cater to different customers. ECI and Traders Point both sell only organic or similarly certified foods. ECI and The Original Farmers’ Market are both downtown locations. Minnetrista and The Original Farmers’ Market are both located in historically recognized places. Minnetrista and Broad Ripple both have exercise trails in close proximity.
I have interviewed farmers, customers, and farmers’ market administrators. I sought to find out what each actor gives and receives during their participation in the farmers’ market. The network of farmers was evaluated through market visits and interviews. I examined economic benefits of using the farmers’ market for the selling of farm products. Marketing practices have been compared to determine the importance of the farmers’ market to the small farmer.
Farmers were interviewed by asking the following questions: What farmers’ markets do you participate in and why? What do you contribute? What is your niche? How have you influenced these farmers’ markets? What is your relationship with the customers? What is your relationship to the farmers’ market administrators? (For the full description of each farm, see appendix A.)
Customers were interviewed to determine the reasons for shopping at the farmers’ market and to learn why the farmers’ market is an attractive place to be. I sought to determine the difference between buying from the farmers’ market and from the grocery store. I also evaluated the potential for customer demands that could be met at the farmers’ market.
The following questions were asked in the customer interviews: Why do you shop at the farmers’ market? Is this more of a social or shopping event? How did you get here today? Where did you come from immediately prior to the farmers’ market? Where will you go when you leave the farmers’ market? How easy is it to get to this farmers’ market? Have you made a request of a farmer and had it fulfilled? What recent changes have you noticed at this farmers’ market? How would you describe the group of people that shop at this farmers’ market? How much money do you spend per visit? How does this compare to grocery store shopping? How many farmers’ markets do you visit per week? What would you like to see at future farmers’ markets?
Farmers’ market administrators were interviewed to analyze their intent and their perceived value of the farmers’ market in their particular space: What are the direct benefits that the administrators receive? Are there any other benefits? What are the negative aspects of running a farmers’ market? What is the mission or design that the administrator is trying to achieve?
I then examined the farmers’ market’s constitution paying special attention to its strengths and weaknesses as a viable marketplace and meeting place for the three actors described. The criteria of urban designers are used to create a framework to examine the spatial and temporal structure. The level of robustness is examined to predict the farmers’ market’s viability over time. The farmers’ market’s role as a spatial center is examined by the way it relates and the perception of how it relates to its surrounding environment. Experiential education and public participation are examined through observation. Finally, the sense of place and time of the farmers’ market in Indiana, created by these three actors, is examined in detail.
Mass production, over consumption, and over distribution have all made small production less profitable, yet the marketing of agricultural products on a small scale is one strategy that is being used for many farmers to keep their practice viable. Farmers’ markets sales are a niche where the small farm can remain small and still remain viable. Many of these family farms would have had to sell out to large, corporate agriculture. “Small Farms cannot survive selling to national wholesalers” (Gratz, 1998, p. 210). It is good fortune for the small farmer that the consumer market continues to grow in support of farmers’ market commerce.
Centralized industrial agriculture has grown to capture nearly all of food sales, yet customer demand has been crucial to keep the farmers market from dying out. From 1946 to 1970 the number of farmers markets in America dropped from 455 to 342 (Brown, 2002). From 1970, retail farmers’ markets have grown to 3155 in 2003 (Lydia Oberholtzer and Shelly Grow, 2003).
As these numbers indicate, a growing number of consumers are still looking for an alternative to the modern grocery store. These consumers are concerned about getting the best quality food. From the 1990’s, the farmers’ market has also become part of the new social trend of healthy lifestyles for customers. Some customers desire to know the origin of their food and others prefer a local source. Individual farmers’ markets meet these demands while also becoming social events where families and friends gather in a weekly ritual. This way, the once nearly extinct farmers market is once again become a viable institution.
Providing a place for the farmers’ market, administrators create spaces that can “stimulate social interaction, foster new business, preserve historic buildings, and stabilize downtown districts or small commercial districts” (Gratz, 1998, p. 211). Administrators oriented toward the farmer help to provide farmers with viable direct marketing opportunities. Community oriented administrators seek to create social centers for the benefit of the surrounding area. Administrators who are more commercially oriented seek to attract people to their own or surrounding businesses. Most farmers’ market administrators are a combination of the three.
The actions of these three actors –the small farmers, the customers, and farmers’ market administrators-- generate a sense of place for the farmers’ market. Place, scale, adaptability, formation of centers, social activity and education are important factors that create vibrant urban places. While the farmers’ market is created by these actors, the place –the farmers’ market-- also plays a key role in forming the institution. Robust in its ability to adapt to physical, political, and economic changes, the farmers’ market has emerged as a center of activity. It draws crowds of people that, in turn, spend money to support the businesses. The farmers’ market also provides a social space that is highly educational. These three actors and the space they create all have a part in creating an environment that supports individual interests.
Method
I seek to demonstrate the contribution of farmers, customers, and farmers’ market administrators to the building of the institution and particularly the space of the farmers market and how it in return benefits each of them. I shall focus on the urban design of the farmers’ market. I will show how the farmers have struggled to keep their business viable, how customer demand has continued to provide room for new niche markets for farmers, and how and why the farmers’ market administrator has provided space where the above actors can meet. Finally, I will examine the urban design of the farmers’ market to discover the urban space these three actors have created.
Individual small-scale farmers, farmers’ market administrators, and customers, contribute to the institution and design of each market every time it is performed. I focus on the individual growers who sell at two or more of the following markets during the week to help compare and contrast the different farmers’ markets within which they sell. The following five Central Indiana farmer’s markets were examined with particular attention paid to the three actors (farmers, customers, and administrators). The farmers’ markets include: “Minnetrista Farmers’ Market” and “East Central Indiana’s (ECI) Natural Heritage Farmers’ Market” in Muncie and “Traders Point Green Market,” “Broad Ripple Farmers’ Market,” and “The Original Farmers’ Market” in Indianapolis. The form (spatial, temporal, and social) of the farmers’ market has been examined through the use of criteria by the experts in the field of urban design particularly Jon Lang, Kevin Lynch, and Christopher Alexander.
I have selected these five farmers markets because they have strong differences. Each city has a diversity of farmers’ markets to cater to different customers. ECI and Traders Point both sell only organic or similarly certified foods. ECI and The Original Farmers’ Market are both downtown locations. Minnetrista and The Original Farmers’ Market are both located in historically recognized places. Minnetrista and Broad Ripple both have exercise trails in close proximity.
I have interviewed farmers, customers, and farmers’ market administrators. I sought to find out what each actor gives and receives during their participation in the farmers’ market. The network of farmers was evaluated through market visits and interviews. I examined economic benefits of using the farmers’ market for the selling of farm products. Marketing practices have been compared to determine the importance of the farmers’ market to the small farmer.
Farmers were interviewed by asking the following questions: What farmers’ markets do you participate in and why? What do you contribute? What is your niche? How have you influenced these farmers’ markets? What is your relationship with the customers? What is your relationship to the farmers’ market administrators? (For the full description of each farm, see appendix A.)
Customers were interviewed to determine the reasons for shopping at the farmers’ market and to learn why the farmers’ market is an attractive place to be. I sought to determine the difference between buying from the farmers’ market and from the grocery store. I also evaluated the potential for customer demands that could be met at the farmers’ market.
The following questions were asked in the customer interviews: Why do you shop at the farmers’ market? Is this more of a social or shopping event? How did you get here today? Where did you come from immediately prior to the farmers’ market? Where will you go when you leave the farmers’ market? How easy is it to get to this farmers’ market? Have you made a request of a farmer and had it fulfilled? What recent changes have you noticed at this farmers’ market? How would you describe the group of people that shop at this farmers’ market? How much money do you spend per visit? How does this compare to grocery store shopping? How many farmers’ markets do you visit per week? What would you like to see at future farmers’ markets?
Farmers’ market administrators were interviewed to analyze their intent and their perceived value of the farmers’ market in their particular space: What are the direct benefits that the administrators receive? Are there any other benefits? What are the negative aspects of running a farmers’ market? What is the mission or design that the administrator is trying to achieve?
I then examined the farmers’ market’s constitution paying special attention to its strengths and weaknesses as a viable marketplace and meeting place for the three actors described. The criteria of urban designers are used to create a framework to examine the spatial and temporal structure. The level of robustness is examined to predict the farmers’ market’s viability over time. The farmers’ market’s role as a spatial center is examined by the way it relates and the perception of how it relates to its surrounding environment. Experiential education and public participation are examined through observation. Finally, the sense of place and time of the farmers’ market in Indiana, created by these three actors, is examined in detail.
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