The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced $5 million in federal grant funding for the Farmers' Market Promotions Program (FMPP).
This year, the program will emphasize three priorities during the 2010 grant period: 1) recruiting and retaining new farmers to participate at farmers' markets and other direct-to-consumer farm marketing outlets; 2) developing professional expertise for farmers' market managers, farmers/vendors, boards and organizations to effectively manage and/or operate farmers' markets and other direct marketing enterprises; and 3) improving food access in local, rural, and underserved communities to promote the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms.
Applications and proposals for the FMPP grant funding are due by April 15. Grant awards will range from $2,500 to $100,000. No match funding is required. For more information and application tools go to: www.ams.usda.gov/FMPP.
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service began tracking farmers' markets in 1994. Since then, the number of farmers' markets has grown by nearly 4,000 nationwide. Today, nearly 5,274 farmers'markets operate nationwide, up from 4,685 in 2008, an increase of 13 percent. AMS maintains a comprehensive list of farmers' markets, posted online at www.ams.udsa.gov/farmersmarkets.
In the six-county SACOG region, over 44 farmers' markets operate both seasonally and continuously. Most recently, markets have opened in Winters, Marysville, and Rancho Cordova.