Racial, Gender, and Age Dynamics in Michigan’s Urban and Rural Farmers Markets: Reducing Food Insecurity, and the Impacts of a Pandemic

Abstract

In recent decades, the number of farmer’s markets has increased dramatically across the country. Though farmers markets have been described as White spaces, they can play important roles in reducing food insecurity. This is particularly true in Michigan where farmer’s markets were crucial collaborators in pioneering programs such as Double-Up Food Bucks that help low-income residents and people of color gain access to fresh, healthy, locally grown food. This article examines the questions: (1) What are the demographic characteristics of the farmers market managers, vendors, and customers and how do these influence market activities? (2) To what extent do farmers markets participate in programs aimed at reducing food insecurity? (3) To what extent do farmers markets serve low-income residents and people of color? and (4) How has the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) affected the operations of farmers markets. This article discusses the findings of a 2020 study that examined the extent to which Michigan’s farmer’s markets served low-income customers and people of color and participated in food assistance programs. The study examined 79 farmers markets and found that 87.3% of the farmer’s market managers are White. On average, roughly 79% of the vendors of the markets are White and almost 18% are people of color. Most of the vendors in the markets participate in nutrition assistance programs. Market managers estimate that about 76% of their customers are White and about 23% are people of color. Farmers markets operated by people of color attract higher numbers of customers and vendors of color than those operated White market managers. Almost half of the farmer’s markets started operations later than usual in 2020 because of the pandemic. More than a third of the markets reported that their funding declined during the pandemic. Moreover, the number of vendors declined at two thirds of the markets and the number of customers dipped at more than 40% of the markets. On the other hand, the number of people requesting food assistance during the pandemic increased in more than half of the markets.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Rural Food Security in High Income Countries: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Full details of the study designs, settings, populations, and domains of food security examined are summarized in Table 2 . More than half of the 22 included studies were conducted in rural USA ( n = 13) [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ], with others being conducted in Australia [ 39 , 40 ], Canada [ 41 ], the UK [ 42 ], Poland [ 43 ], Israel [ 44 ], Chile [ 45 ] and Germany [ 46 ]. One study was conducted in an international sample, comprising participants from 62 different countries [ 47 ].…”

“…Most studies ( n = 16) collected data on adult populations or household-level information [ 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 47 ], while two specifically focused on households or families comprising both adults and children [ 26 , 32 ]. Three studies reported on the impact of COVID-19 on food outlets such as stores [ 28 ], farmers markets [ 33 ], and food banks [ 46 ]. Sixteen were quantitative in design [ 26 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], with a sample size for the rural sample ranging from 50 to 1766 ( Table 2 ).…”

“…Three studies reported on the impact of COVID-19 on food outlets such as stores [ 28 ], farmers markets [ 33 ], and food banks [ 46 ]. Sixteen were quantitative in design [ 26 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], with a sample size for the rural sample ranging from 50 to 1766 ( Table 2 ). Three studies were mixed-methods [ 27 , 34 , 42 ] and three were qualitative [ 35 , 36 , 40 ], with the rural sample size ranging from 14 to 92 ( Table 2 ).…”

“…Of the included studies, most ( n = 12) captured food insecurity-related data using online surveys [ 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 34 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 47 ]. Others utilized telephone surveys [ 33 , 44 , 45 ] or surveys conducted via text-messages [ 32 ]. Three studies collected data using focus groups [ 35 , 40 ] or interviews [ 36 ].…”

“…An overview of the included studies reporting on the domains of food availability is presented in Table 4 , including four quantitative studies [ 30 , 33 , 38 , 46 ] and one qualitative study [ 40 ]. All these studies reported that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted on the availability of food in all settings.…”