The Availability of Local Food through Farmers' Markets

Identifying gaps and improving the local food system in the Adirondacks and North Country

Molly Abruzzese

Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA)

ANCA is a 65-year-old economic development organization that focuses on small businesses, food systems, clean energy, and equity and inclusion in the Adirondacks. Access to affordable, healthy, and locally grown food is a pressing issue in the Adirondacks and North Country region. ANCA’s food systems program works to drive economic growth, sustain regional farms, and increase access to local food by working directly with farmers.

Adirondack Farmers' Markets

Importance of Farmers' Markets:

Row of Vendors at the Keene Farmers' Market

  • Access to affordable, healthy, and locally grown food is a pressing issue in the Adirondacks and North Country region.
  • Food security and food access are directly linked to the environment and sustainability because buying locally sourced food has lower carbon emissions than large-scale farming practices.
  • Locally grown food is more nutritious because produce is picked when it is ripe.
  • ANCA helps support local farmers by hosting the High Peaks Farmers’ Market in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.

Markets in the Area:

  • Farmers' markets provide direct links between farmers and consumers.
  • Across the Adirondacks and North Country, there are 64 Farmers' Markets.
  • There are 27 markets across 5 counties:
    • Clinton County - 4 markets
    • Essex County - 8 markets
    • Franklin County - 4 markets
    • St. Lawrence - 6 markets
    • Warren - 5 markets

Click on a pin for more information about each market

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Who attends markets and what do they buy?

  • Part of ANCA’s mission is to make local food accessible to everyone.
  • To accomplish this, it is necessary to understand the people who attend farmers’ markets, and how ANCA and their partners can increase these numbers.
  • I traveled to markets in the Adirondacks and North Country (listed below) and surveyed customers to determine the attendance and purchasing habits at farmers markets.
  • It is important for ANCA and their partners to understand the people who attends famers' markets so they can:
    • improve overall experience
    • make local food accessible to more people
    • encourage healthier diets
  • Data collection from June 17th 2023 to July 15th 2023

Farmers' Markets surveyed:

Plattsburgh Farmers' & Crafters Market - Clinton Elizabethtown Farmers' Market - Essex Keene Valley Farmers' Market - Essex Lake Placid Farmers' Market - Essex Schroon Lake Farmers' Market - Essex Wilmington Farmers' Market - Essex Malone Farmers' Market - Franklin Saranac Lake Farmers' Market - Franklin Canton Farmers' Market - St. Lawrence Gouverneur Farmers' Market - St. Lawrence Potsdam Farmers' Market - St. Lawrence Glens Falls Saturday Farmers' Market - Warren North Creek Farmers' Market - Warren

Residency of Customers at Farmers' Markets:

  • Understanding who is attending farmers' markets is essential in order to provide appropriate vendors.
  • 60%-85% of customers who visited markets are permanent, or full-time residents.
  • Warren county has the highest percentage of non-residents, or tourists at 18%.
    • Warren County contains Lake George, a popular tourist destination) and is located closer to Albany and New York City, where a majority of tourists visit from.

How Customers Find Farmers' Markets:

  • Insight into how customers find farmers' markets can benefit market managers and organizations as to where they should publicize market information.
  • 38%-88% of customers already knew about the market from previous years.
    • 88% of customers at the Plattsburgh Farmers' Market in Clinton had known about the market. 94% of customers at this market are permanent or seasonal residents and the Plattsburgh market is an older, well-established market. Both of these factors contribute to customers previously knowing about the market.
  • 6%-38% attend because of a recommendation from another person (word of mouth) which is the same as the internet (websites, social media, and emails), which also draws 6%-26% of customers.
  • Signage only draws 4%-17% of customers.
    • This indicates that there is only a small number of people who will spontaneously stop at the markets.

Products Purchased at Farmers' Markets:

  • Knowing what customers are buying at markets allows market managers and organizations to know what type of vendors will draw the most customers.
  • Produce (vegetables and fruit) is consistently the most popular product at markets (31%-43% of products purchased).
  • Baked goods (breads and pastries) are the second most popular product, drawing 10%-28% of products purchased
  • Meat and eggs, pre-made food (ready-to-eat food), and food products (honey, maple, cheese, and alcohol) all ranged from 7%-18% of products purchased.
  • Crafts (soap, fiber crafts, woodworking, and art) were the least sold product (2%-13% of products purchased).

Produce for sale sign at Glens Falls Farmers' Market

Percentage of Weekly Groceries Purchased at Farmers' Markets:

  • Out of the permanent and seasonal residents, 50%-70% say they purchase a percentage of their weekly groceries at the farmers' market.
    • This percentage greatly varies based on market, as some markets offer more food than others.
  • 30%-50% of customers get 0% to 4% of their weekly groceries at markets.
  • 39%-63% of customers in all counties purchase 5% to 25% of their weekly groceries from farmers' markets. This is the majority in all counties except for Clinton, where 50% of customers buy less than 4% of their weekly groceries at markets.

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits

Importance of accepting SNAP benefits at Farmers' Markets:

  • Two large barriers to purchasing locally sourced food are access and affordability.
  • Healthier foods, like fruits and vegetables, are generally more expensive than purchasing a pre-made meal of processed food.
  • Increasing the number of markets that accept SNAP will:
    • increase access for low-income individuals to purchase fresh, local food.
    • make local food more affordable to low-income individuals.
    • encourage a healthier diet in low-income individuals.

How do markets accept SNAP benefits?

At each market, a booth is set up by the market manager where a customer can charge their SNAP benefit card. The customer will receive tokens to spend at any vendor who sells SNAP approved items. The vendor will then turn in the tokens that were spent at their booth to the market manager for reimbursement.

Expanding the use of SNAP benefits:

  • ANCA hopes to overcome these barriers by expanding the use of SNAP benefits at farmers’ markets.
  • Recognizing where SNAP benefits are already accepted is needed to identify potential markets to expand to.

Markets that Accept SNAP Benefit Cards:

Saranac Lake Farmers' Market Lake Placid Farmers' Market Keene Valley Farmers' Market Canton Farmers' Market Gouverneur Farmers' Market Hammond Farmers' Market Massena Farmers' Market Potsdam Farmers' Market Glen Falls Farmers' Market

Swipe the map on the right:

  • all the markets in the area are in blue
  • the markets that currently accept SNAP benefits are in pink.

Vendors at the North Creek Farmers' Market

SNAP Customers:

  • As shown in the graph to the right, there appears to be a decrease in the amount of SNAP dollars spent at the High Peaks Farmers' Markets (does not include Double-Up Food Bucks)
  • $1,375 of SNAP dollars were spent between June and July of 2022.
  • $1,339 of dollars were spent between June and mid-July of 2023.

The difference between 2022 and 2023 may be due to the availability of data. The data for 2022 was collected through July 30th while data for 2023 was collected through July 15th. With this in mind, the use of SNAP benefits at Farmers' Markets will have slightly increased between 2022 and 2023.

In 2022, customers who used their SNAP benefit cards at the High Peaks Farmers' Markets were asked if this was their first time using their card at the market. 70.7% of customers responded that this was not their first time using their card at the market.

Products Customers are buying with SNAP dollars:

  • Between 2022 and 2023, the percent of SNAP dollars spent on different products at the High Peaks Farmers' Markets are relatively the same.
  • Some changes include an increase in produce and dairy products purchased from 2022 to 2023.
  • The largest change is a decrease in baked goods products purchased from 2022 to 2023.
    • Some vendors do not turn in their tokens for dollars each week, but rather at the end of the month which may be why there is such a difference in the data.

Across both years, customers who use their SNAP benefit cards at Farmers' Markets purchase mostly produce (38-48%). Meat and baked good (bread, pastries, etc.) are the second most popular products followed by dairy (yogurt, cream, etc.) and pre-made food (food that is ready to eat). Food products (peanut butter, maple products) are the least purchased item with less than 1.5% of products purchased.

Conclusion

Key Take Aways:

In Clinton county, 50% of customers buy less than 4% of their local groceries at farmers' markets. This may be due to the low number and long distance between markets. (4 markets in the county) and/or because none of these markets accept SNAP benefits.

The majority of permanent and seasonal residents purchase 5%-25% of their weekly groceries at markets. However, markets are inconsistent from week-to-week with what products are offered. Because of the variability of products based on the season and on availability (vendors run out of products), customers cannot reliably purchase a large percentage of their groceries at markets.  

St. Lawrence has the highest percentage of permanent residents (90%) compared to seasonal residents (4%). St Lawrence county also has a large number of residents who purchase over 25% of their weekly groceries at famers' markets (24%). Permanent residents rely on farmers' markets more than seasonal residents.

Future use of data:

The survey data shown above will be used by ANCA and other farmers' market managers and organizations to improve farmers' markets. The goal of this study was to determine what customers are purchasing and what they would like to purchase at markets in order to determine future steps to make local food an option for more people. It is hard to draw an overall conclusion, even by county, as each market is unique in its vendors and customers.

The continued collection of data on the levels of use of SNAP benefits will further help inform ANCA, market managers, and other organizations in strategies to increase the use of SNAP benefits at markets. These data will be used to increase access and affordability for low-income individuals to purchase fresh, local food and to encourage a healthier diet.

Sources

All photos were taken by author.

Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and Warren County data was collected by author.

St. Lawrence County data was collected by GardenShare Interns.

Adirondack Harvest, March 8, 2023. https://adirondackharvest.com/.

Ekanem, Enefiok, Mary Mafuyai, and Arvazena Clardy. “Economic Importance of Local Food Markets:  Evidence from the Literature.” Journal of Food Distribution Research 47, no. 1 (March 2016).

Gardenshare. Accessed July 14, 2023. https://www.gardenshare.org/.

Mouillesseaux-Kunzman, Heidi, and Katherine Lang. “Exploring Regional Food Systems: A North Country Example.” Research & Policy Brief Series, no. 26 (February 2009).

Zepeda, Lydia, and Jinghan Li. “Who Buys Local Food? .” Journal of Food Distribution Research 37, no. 3 (November 2006).

Row of Vendors at the Keene Farmers' Market

Produce for sale sign at Glens Falls Farmers' Market

Vendors at the North Creek Farmers' Market

In 2022, customers who used their SNAP benefit cards at the High Peaks Farmers' Markets were asked if this was their first time using their card at the market. 70.7% of customers responded that this was not their first time using their card at the market.