“Farmers markets shield consumers.” This is one of the big takeaways from a recent article co-written by World Farmers Markets Coalition member, Justin Cantalfio. He serves as Executive Director of Nova Scotia Farmers Markets in Canada. Published in the journal, The Conversation, the report compares food price increases in conventional retail versus the farmers market alternative.
With the backdrop of skyrocketing food prices destabilising many governments, including Canada’s, solutions focus upon the long-supply chain systems affected by the global pandemic and then followed by the war in Ukraine. Consumers interface with this system at supermarkets. Unsurprisingly, very little of the discussion about what to do with rising prices has made even passing mention of the alternative food networks. This is why this report is so important.
In interviews with 223 farmers market vendors, combined with data collected at Canadian farmers markets, the study’s authors — Phoebe Stephens and Alyssa Gerhardt (both of Dalhousie University)— find that over the five years from 2018 to 2023, inflation rates on key foodstuffs were higher in mainstream supermarkets than at local alternatives, like farmers markets. Despite the often-repeated claim that farmers markets are so expensive, cater to wealthy eaters, etc., their report shows the opposite. Many of us who work in and for farmers markets can point to anecdotal evidence of farmers markets’ competitive advantage; however, it is helpful to point to this evidence from Canada to shift the narrative.
Moreover, let us go on offense. Whereas the mainstream, industrial supermarket economy can do what it wants, when it wants (due to remarkable consolidation of resources), farmers markets offer a diffused alternative. Independent farming families cooperate enough to meet the public together, but otherwise compete for shoppers’ attention and loyalty. This is a relationship that keeps everyone honest. It is what we have to offer: the extraordinary dignity and power that comes with choice for consumers. Compare the farmers market offerings to the jaws of control in the United Kingdom, for instance, where “the big four” (as they are known) control almost all of market share, prices, and consumer expectations.
While our community of farmers markets may not be as “convenient” as the supermarket (and its brick and mortar presence and extended hours of operation), consider the convenience that farmers provide to consumers to shield them from admittedly growing costs to farm. This is what the Canadian report finds. Farmers absorb increases in costs, whereas the supermarkets not only pass them on to consumers, but they also inflate everything behind a screen of obfuscation. Why? Their business model is not built to deliver community, transparency, and solidarity between town and country. Their goal is simply to squeeze out the competition.
Why is this report from Canada so important in 2025? Governments, new and old, are ringing their hands trying to figure out how to bring prices down, even though they have few means to do so. This is the problem with consolidation; and we are the leading tip of the spear that punctures consolidation. We need more reports like this one. We need to deploy tools that capture what we do well, especially since most of the evaluation strategies are designed for the long-supply chain world. Since the evaluation matrix is designed for that world, so too are the policy concepts.
We are working with FAO to design new evaluation tools. Many of you are as well. While we welcome and support the development of True Cost Accounting (TCA) tools, like the ones presented at our 2024 General Assembly, our global community of practice needs insights, stories, and innovations – in evaluation and management – now. Soon is okay, but now is better.
So, as we dive into 2025, please be generous with your stories, your insights. The WhatsApp stream is a joy to behold, especially when conversations take on a life of their own (skipping from continent to continent regarding one concern or innovation, or another); however, we also need your help to share the knowledge you are accruing on the ground, beneath the tents and umbrellas, with the wider world via our monthly newsletter. Please share with our communications team stories, reports, and insights that your colleagues must know.
I look forward to seeing you at upcoming Studios, in-person meetings, during the 2025 launch of our Markets Count campaign, and at our next General Assembly (date and location, to be determined soon).
You can read the December 2024 article, Farmers Markets are a vital but overlooked part of fixing Canada’s struggling food system here:
