Through their Farmers Market Metrics initiative, FMC has been working to make data collection and communication easy and intuitive by developing training materials and web tools that are tailored to your specific mission and capacity.
FMC’s Farmers Market Metrics work is taking place through various projects and funding sources. The USDA AFRI funded research project with the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW), called Indicators for Impact, is entering its second year of data collection. Through this partnership with Dr. Alfonso Morales and PhD student Lauren Suerth, eight farmers markets in six states and four markets associated with the Wisconsin Main Street Program have been testing a set of metrics and data collection protocols, working to reach the perfect balance of easy and intuitive data collection methods, which also produce accurate, relevant data on market impacts. Additionally, through a USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) project awarded in 2014, FMC has developed a set of data collection and communication training materials and templates that will be released in the coming weeks.
