The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), in partnership with the Farmers Market Consortium, hosted the National Farmers Market Summit November 7–9, 2007, in Baltimore, MD. The Summit assembled key stakeholders from the farmers market community to convene a national conversation on issues...

USDA initiated a pilot study in cooperation with KDA and PAAC that examined the marketing, transportation, and delivery strategies of the catfish processing cooperative. The information gathered should prove useful to many groups involved in this type of enterprise. The study had several...

Seasonal farmers markets remain the predominant market type in the United States. Approximately 88 percent of respondents reported they operated seasonal markets, open, on average, 4.5 months per year. As might be expected, seasonal markets that were open for 6 or fewer months per year attracted...

The growing retail desire for exclusive and specialized food products offers new marketing opportunities for small and medium-sized food suppliers that understand the new world of food merchandising and are capable of delivering food products that satisfy commercial requirements for quality,...

This report summarizes one of the panel discussions, “Emerging Market Opportunities for Small-scale Producers,” held as part of the August 2008 USDA Fifth Annual Partners Meeting, sponsored by the USDA Office of Outreach. The purpose of the annual event is to support a dialogue between USDA...

A recurring challenge faced by farmers is the lack of distribution infrastructure and services to allow them to take greater advantage of the growing demand for locally and regionally grown food. Regional food hubs have emerged as one effective way to overcome these infrastructural and market...

This is a PDF of a Powerpoint presentation.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the Food Stamp Program) is the Nation’s largest nutritional assistance program and the cornerstone of Federal Government efforts to alleviate hunger in the United States and its territories. SNAP benefits are funded by the United...