Inside the Tents
Farmers Market business news and updates
This newsletter is intended to go out on Wednesdays. On some weeks the markets we manage need a little extra attention, we’re prepping for National Farmers Market Week, quarterly state AG reports are due, we’re launching the Request for Proposals for next year’s inTent Farmers Market Conference, or there’s a family event that we don’t want to miss. So here it is Friday.
Now if all that was happening, would I wait to open a Wednesday farmers market until Friday? Or publish our weekly market newsletter the day after the market? No, no I would not. We’d be on the street early Wednesday morning, even if I was still revising the map as we were popping the Info tent. So I’m going to be better about publishing on Wednesdays even if the week is busy. It may not be a long, well researched piece but we’ll be here. Progress over perfection. Today, that means a quick roundup of things to know now.
It’s National Farmers Market Week eve-eve: the week officially starts on Sunday and runs August 3rd through 9th. If you have a Saturday market you might cheat and start celebrating tomorrow. We do.
If it’s snuck up on you this year and you don’t have a lot prepared,we suggest checking in right now with your state farmers market association. Many of them have local resources that will make it easy to post and to amplify messages that your neighboring markets, farmers and producers are getting out there. We love the campaign that the Washington State Farmers Market Association has created with the theme Stand Up for Farmers Markets and the graphics they’ve provided to be shared by their farmers markets statewide.
Don’t forget the Farmers Market Coalition NFMW Toolkit and other tips and ideas we covered here for getting your whole community working together to take advantage of the attention markets can get this week and parlay into more business all year.
Today marks the start of American Farmland Trust’s annual America’s Farmers Market Celebration. This year’s dates respond to input from inTents Farmers Market Conference attendees and others who completed surveys and joined a listening session earlier this year. The celebration (I personally hate calling this a competition but there are prizes, so there you are) runs August 1st to September 30th. A total of $15,000 in cash People’s Choice awards will go to 10 markets that generate the largest number of votes from shoppers and fans.
To participate, you’ll need to be sure your market information is updated on the USDA Farmers Market Directory, rather than the directory that AFT was creating and maintaining themselves for a few years. In theory, having one central directory would make things easier. Paid subscribers, watch for a story on how that’s gone for us in the last few weeks.
In this vintage episode of Tent Talk, the Farmers Market Podcast, 2022 regional winner Chris Cirkus of the West Windsor Farmers Market talks about the benefits of winning an America's Farmers Market Celebration award. Check the rules, and use your campaign to rev up enthusiasm for your market, whether or not you land in the top tiers of voting.
A few more announcements:
The next season of Tent Talk launches September 8th. In the meantime take a spin through the last 349 episodes and find some that you might have missed.
Almost half of the Early Bird tickets for the inTents National Farmers Market Conference have been claimed. To save $100, reserve your seat now. Paid subscriber’s discounts for the conference can be applied to Early Bird tickets too, for extra savings. We can’t wait to see you in San Diego, California next year, March 1st through 4th, 2026.
Want to spend some of your time at the conference on the stage? The Request for Proposals is now open, the deadline is September 8th. That gives you a little more than 5 weeks to let us know what you have to share. We can’t wait to see what you’ve dreamed up.
Drop a note in the comments to let us know what topics you’d like to see covered at next year’s conference or on the live calls for paid subscribers that start later this month.
Hope your markets are smooth sailing from start to finish this weekend. But not your tents. No sailing tents, please. See you on Wednesday.