Vendors’ experiences at Farmers’ markets 2018-2023

Abstract

Farmers’ markets have been growing throughout the 2000’s in both their sales and the number of operating markets. The focus of studies on farmers’ markets has shifted over time, from vendor profitability questions to consumer profile questions. This study adds to the literature by focusing on the vendor in three distinct ways: first, by measuring the variables that are associated with higher vendor sales; second, the impacts of vendor selling longevity through farmers’ markets; and lastly, by examining characteristics of vendors who sold during the pandemic. A unique data set put together by the Farmers’ Market Metrics Project based in Minnesota is used for this thesis. Two GLS models and a binary logit model were used in the analysis. We find varying results between the models, but location, products sold, and vendor demographics were found to impact the vendors sales, years selling or probability of selling in 2020 most often.