Happy Farmers Market Appreciation Week!

We’ve talked a lot about the ethos of farmers markets on this blog… This week is National Farmers Market Appreciation Week, and with small businesses facing recent and unexpected economic strain, we’re sticking to the cold, hard facts of what farmers markets offer to our local economies. Read on to find out why attending the Nolensville and Westhaven Farmers Markets automatically supports a powerful emerging movement that is entirely community-driven. 

History

Markets have been around since the dawn of human civilization. People formed town squares to accommodate vendors selling everything from food to medicine, and often served as spaces for communities to exchange ideas, socialize, and ultimately grow and change. They became stages for plays and political campaigns, cornerstones for the pulse of ancient town drama and culture. In some ways, where there used to be markets, now we have social media! 

Modern-day farmers markets hold onto some of these roots by serving as gathering places for community. The way they navigate municipalities and surrounding private businesses in physical space and how they advertise to the public has evolved with the rest of first-world society, but their ability to connect people across socio-economic and rural vs urban divides remains.

People and Community

Markets can be a place where people take care of each other and their communities in ways big and small, from customers learning vendors’ stories and encouraging them along their path, to simply meeting up with a friend and catching up face-to-face rather than through a screen.

Our vendors exist both within and outside of the constraints of the modern business world. They have to keep up with the demands of modern technology, constantly learning new techniques to stand out amongst their competitors while balancing budget and delivering a high quality project. But, having the support of local communities allows them to feel like they have to spend resources trying to compete with the big guys (at least not yet!). Because of our customers, they have the freedom to be authentic. They can be whatever kind of business they want to see more of in the world, and we’re all better off for it!

Access

The question of access is simple: people can’t eat nutritious, local food if there is no one in their neighborhood to sell it. Nashville is home to amazing businesses like the Turnip Truck and organizations like the Nashville Food Project, but it takes a village to feed a city!

Markets provide a direct line between consumers and the farmers that are right under their noses. Did you know that when produce is imported from long distances away, it is harvested before it is ripe to preserve shelf life, and then artificially ripened before arriving at the grocery store? This means this produce has less of the good stuff in it, the vitamins and minerals we need to live happy, healthy lives. Farmers markets bring good, nutritious food access to consumers, and it gives farmers access to their customer base. Sounds pretty good to me!

Diversity

Depending on where you go, farmers markets are some of the more diverse spaces you will find in Nashville and central Tennessee. Folks come from all walks of life to promote their products and do their shopping. Different tax brackets, races, ages, identities, family histories, passions, opinions on heirloom vs hybrid tomatoes, the list goes on! 

From a business and social standpoint, we understand that diversity means strength. The diversity in ideas that comes from having different tax brackets, races, and identities in one space leads to the kind of conversations that spark new ways of thinking. We have so much to learn from each other, and even though change can be scary and uncomfortable, it’s more bearable when you can go through it with friends!

Economy

Supporting your local farmers market is a direct investment in your local community. More money in the local community creates more jobs and more opportunities for residents to take advantage of and enjoy, ultimately raising the quality of life for your neighbors in a direct and powerful way.

We know our communities in Nolensville and Westhaven support local, but are we a fluke, or an indication of a larger pattern? Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of hearing University of Kentucky’s Professor Tim Woods speak about place-based branding at the Pick Tennessee conference. His message was this: if we can capitalize on the momentum of the support local movement, community cornerstones like farmers markets will never go out of style. 

During Covid, two things happened: people started buying local, and they started ordering their groceries online. With the height of the pandemic behind us, google searches for online groceries dropped drastically, but searches for local food remained steady and even continue to grow! A survey conducted in Kentucky showed that supporting local is a core importance for 13% of surveyors. That number nearly tripled to 36% in 2023! We can thank young people for some of this growth, who have more and more buying power and on the whole are visiting farmers markets more and more often.

But generally speaking, rural areas are more active in direct-to-consumer sales and agritourism, which means we have power to keep supporting this movement as more and more people are willing to spend more $ to support local. It’s an exciting time to be involved!

Programs

Many farmers markets (including our own!) accept payment through programs like SNAP and WIC (women, infants, and children), making high-quality, local produce more accessible for those in Nolensville and surrounding neighborhoods who are in greatest need of community support. Not only that, but the Nolensville Farmers Market offers double SNAP, where we match every SNAP dollar spent at our market. Over time, turning $25 into $50 can be life-changing for some families who get left behind by well-meaning yet flawed systems. This program is criminally underutilized, and the only way to get more people to use it is to spread the word! 

The Nolensville Farmers Market also participates in the Power of Produce, or POP club, in which kids who attend the first market of each month get a $3 gift card to spend with any of our produce farmers. Increasing access for our kids encourages connections to their community, which gives them a sense of belonging and ownership over their choices, all while supporting healthy habits along the way!

Markets Don’t Just Happen

I am so proud to be a part of the WilcoEvents market management team! Kasi, Daniel, Kaylee, and the entire Haire family have poured their dedication into the Nolensville and Westhaven Farmers Markets, and of course, we could not do any of this without our amazing vendors and customers!! This job is truly a gift.

Now, if you’re reading this, chances are you’re either a regular at the Nolensville and/or Westhaven Farmers markets, or you’ve never been and are checking us out for the first time! To newcomers, welcome! If you choose to come visit us, you are participating in a beautiful web of financial and social support. To our regulars, we love you, and we need your help. Programs like double SNAP can be life changing, but only if they reach the right people. Tell your churches and other community-oriented programs about us to help spread the word!