May 2022 Industry News & Updates

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MFM Markets are open!

At Mass Farmers Markets, we are ramping up for the new 2022 season. Our Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville Farmers Markets are opening next week:

Copley Square: Friday, May 13, 11am-6pm
Central Square: Monday, May 16, 12pm-6pm
Davis Square: Wednesday, May 18, 12pm-6pm

We need your help!
The Eat Like a Local Campaign launches soon

Mass Farmers Markets has been awarded a grant from Mass Office of Travel and Tourism to support our Eat Like A Local marketing and advertising work. Read more here

Be a part of this exciting campaign. Submit your info here.

Find out more about the campaign by emailing our Outreach Coordinator,

Andrew Catanzariti at: eatlikealocal@massfarmersmarkets.org

More Exciting News:

MFM Awarded Placemaking Grant

Mass Farmers Markets in partnership with PlacePractice has been awarded a Commonwealth Places [MassDevelopment] seed grant for 2022. We'll be working with two Gateway Cities to better understand the challenges that market managers face building and creating vibrant marketplaces that support the needs of farmers, consumers and the various community constituents that make each market so important.

Stay tuned for more details.

Farmers' Market Grants Available through Farm Credit East

Farm Credit East is offering farmers' market grants up to $500.
Grant funding may be used to support participating farmers, market enhancements, marketing efforts and/or programs to support disadvantaged communities or improve access to fresh, local food. The deadline for 2022 submissions is Friday, May 27, at 4 p.m.

More info here.

Market Managers & Vendors: We need your input!

Review your profile on Farmspread and make updates

Send us your special events to add to our calendar

Send us your photos so we can promote you through our channels

Don’t forget!

Register or renew your membership here.

Food Policy News

The Massachusetts legislature is considering many bills in the 2021-22 session that relate to recommendations made in the 2015 Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan and the 2020 Perspectives on Resilience and Recovery report. This list includes bills that most closely align with goals and recommendations from the Plan. We encourage committees to consider these bills, and look forward to working with legislators to further shape these and other bills that move the Commonwealth toward a more sustainable and equitable food system. For a printable copy, including a list of 84 other organizations that have signed on in support of these bills, click here."

Click here to read more from the Mass Food System Collaborative

What We're Reading

Mass Food System Collaborative: Food Literacy in Massachusetts | April 2022

Report documents local successes and statewide opportunities for food literacy in schools. Massachusetts children grow and lead healthy, independent, thoughtful lives, all students in grades K - 12 should have access to food system education in school, learning about agriculture, nutrition, food justice, and culinary skills.

Read More.

Market Cities: How Markets Make our Communities Resilient

A Market City has distribution networks that prioritize and support healthy, affordable, and safe food as well as other goods produced in the region...Markets are incredibly important in our collective response to difficult times. As we confront ongoing crises like climate breakdown and the lingering effects of a global pandemic, markets should be part of every community’s path toward a more resilient future. Read More.

Stay up-to-date on everything MA Agriculture here here.

Read something interesting about food access or the agricultural industry?
Send us a link so we can share it here and on our website.

MFM Membership

Whether your farmers market is new, well-established, or re-emerging from the a pandemic hiatus, Mass Farmers Markets Membership is here to support you.

Member benefits include:

  • Fiscal Sponsorship

  • Access to Group Liability Coverage

  • Support & Assistance

  • Biweekly Members Meeting

  • Speaker Series

  • Market Managers Conference

  • Promotion & Marketing Support

  • Farmspread Marketing

  • WBUR Advertising

  • Discounted Constant Contact Email Marketing Services

  • FREE Annual membership to Farmers Market Coalition

  • Attendance and Voting rights at our Annual Meeting

PLUS New Benefits for 2022:

  • Vendor Job Search Assistance

  • Fundraising through Car Donation

  • Google Ads for your market

Check out our Member Benefits page for more information and to sign up or renew your membership.

Additional Member Resources

We need your photos for our Instagram and weekly consumer newsletters. Please send us photos with captions and tags if any vendors are featured.

All market managers and organizers are welcome. Connect, share ideas, and deliver information. Registration is required. Please register here.

We have created a private online space via Basecamp for member markets to collaborate, share ideas and resources, ask questions, and support each other. If you haven't joined us yet, please email us and we'll get you set up.

Farmspread

Farmspread makes finding farmers markets easy for customers across the state.

Market Managers: set up or update your profile to drive traffic to your market.

Vendors: keep shoppers updated on seasonal or weekly offerings, connect your website and social channels.

We have created a private online space via Basecamp for member markets to collaborate, share ideas and resources, ask questions, and support each other. If you haven't joined us yet, please email us and we'll get you set up.

 
 

Mass Farmers Markets