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Building a bridge between civic agriculture and civic engagement: farmers’ markets as communication infrastructure
Abstract
Purpose
This work aimed to show how farmers’ markets can act as communication infrastructure, and by doing so, facilitate civic engagement. We used communication infrastructure theory (CIT) as a guide.
Design/methodology/approach
We integrated findings from two surveys that took place in the US state of Wisconsin. In a survey of Wisconsin farmers’ market leaders, we considered what features farmers’ markets have that may help them act as communication infrastructure. Using data from a survey of Wisconsin residents, we ran a regression model to demonstrate the relationship between farmers’ market attendance and micro-level storytelling about local food.
Findings
We found that farmers’ markets can act as meso-level storytellers and provide a communication action context supportive of civic engagement. Through the farmers’ market leader survey, we found that over half of the markets noted existing partnerships with media outlets. Furthermore, farmers’ markets may connect residents to important organizations in the community. Many farmers’ markets had features to make them more physically and financially accessible, such as accepting food assistance benefits. With the Wisconsin resident survey, we found that farmers’ market attendance predicted storytelling about local food better than overall local food purchasing, further suggesting that markets can facilitate social interactions.
Originality/value
We document an important benefit that farmers’ markets can offer communities: they have the potential to act as communication infrastructure. As stronger communication infrastructure can facilitate civic engagement, this work provides a mechanism by which to connect civic agriculture activities and increased levels of civic engagement.
... Farmers markets offer communities other kinds of benefits, too. Farmers markets can be a place for meaningful social interactions (Alkon & McCullen, 2011;Aucoin & Fry, 2015;Carson et al., 2016;Morales, 2021) and for civic engagement (Witzling & Shaw, 2022), as well as to access resources and information (Dollahite et al., 2005;Morales, 2021;Witzling & Shaw, 2022) and to celebrate cultures (Alkon, 2007;Meyers, 2015). Economically, farmers markets can benefit communities as they support the circulation of money locally (Sadler et al., 2013). ...
... Farmers markets offer communities other kinds of benefits, too. Farmers markets can be a place for meaningful social interactions (Alkon & McCullen, 2011;Aucoin & Fry, 2015;Carson et al., 2016;Morales, 2021) and for civic engagement (Witzling & Shaw, 2022), as well as to access resources and information (Dollahite et al., 2005;Morales, 2021;Witzling & Shaw, 2022) and to celebrate cultures (Alkon, 2007;Meyers, 2015). Economically, farmers markets can benefit communities as they support the circulation of money locally (Sadler et al., 2013). ...
... Furthermore, farmers markets are events that provide opportunities for social connections and civic engagement (Warsaw et al., 2021). As farmers market leaders in Wisconsin reported partnerships between farmers markets and numerous types of civic and social organizations, researchers concluded that farmers markets likely facilitate connections between residents and their communities (Wilson et al., 2018;Witzling & Shaw, 2022). With civic, educational, health, and social activities and impacts in mind, our third research question was: ...
To provide farmers market leaders and researchers with new insights about farmers market attendees, given shifting consumer preferences and demographics, we conducted a nearly nationally representative survey in the United States. Among the 5,141 respondents, 38.51% reported attending farmers markets infrequently (i.e., five or fewer times per year), and 41.78% reported attending with more regularity (i.e., six or greater times per year). In combination, this equated to 80.30% of the entire sample having at least some experience with farmers markets (i.e., attending once per year or more). Of note, farmers markets were defined as places to buy local food directly from more than one vendor. Top motivations for attending included getting fresh food, supporting local farmers, getting high-quality food, and doing something fun, suggesting that promoting farmers markets with those themes should resonate with audiences. The top challenge to attendance was forgetting about farmers markets, indicating that campaigns or strategies to remind individuals about markets could be beneficial. Additionally, the majority of attendees reported that they ate healthier because of farmers markets and that they did nonconsumer activities at farmers markets, such as socializing and learning, underscoring that farmers markets can be a shared community experience that goes beyond consumption. We recommend that future work build on our results to further investigate how to expand the customer base for farmers markets and help people access the many benefits they provide.
Research has underscored the role that social infrastructure - the places and spaces that help build and maintain social ties - plays in improving quality of life, lowering crime, and creating connection. Little work to date has shown how, across multiple urban environments, these parks, community centers, cafes, mosques, libraries, and other facilities correlate with bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. Our paper seeks to better understand the relationship between social infrastructure and bonding, bridging, and linking social capital along with inter-city differences in social facilities. We use Google map data from 25 urban centers in North America along with information from census-tract level Social Capital Index (SoCI) scores to map out these connections. We find that, controlling for other factors, social infrastructure positively correlates with bridging social capital - the weak or thin ties that build heterogeneous groups. As intended, many forms of social infrastructure help people engage with broader and more diverse networks, that is, provide a structure for connective democracy. Further, some cities' residents have extensive access to social infrastructure - such as those of Washington DC - while in others, such as Los Angeles, have far less. These findings bring with them policy recommendations for communities, NGOs, and decision makers alike.
Bu çalışmada tarım iletişimi kavramı, önemi, tarım iletişimi çalışmaları tanımlanmıştır. Global ölçekte ve bölgemizde yaşanan salgın hastalık, kuraklık ve savaşlar insanların açlıkla mücadele etmek için tarımı yeniden gündeme taşımıştır. Tarım son yılların en önemli konu başlığı olmuştur. Bu çalışmanın amacı; tarım iletişimini sağlamaya dönük faaliyetler yürüten Agricities’i ele almaktır. Agricities, merkezi Konya’da olan Dünya çapında uluslararası bir birlik olup Türkiye’nin bu alanda ilk ve tek kuruluşu olarak dikkatleri çekmektedir. Bu araştırma, tarım iletişimi, önemi ve çerçevesi konuları bağlamında hazırlanmış bir makale olup araştırmada içerik analizi yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda Agricities’in tarım iletişiminin merkezinde yer alan yeni kurulmuş bir kurum olması dolayısıyla sosyal medya kanallarında aktif olduğu görülmüştür. Agricities’e üye olan belediyeler arasında 11 yurt dışı 11 de yurt içinden belediyenin örnekleminde yapılan araştırma ile Türkiye belediyelerinin Instagram, Twitter ve Facebook sosyal medya organlarını yurt dışında üye belediyelerine nazaran daha aktif kullandıkları; Afrika belediyelerinin ise ekonomik sebeplere bağlı olarak dijital altyapının yetersiz olması ile ilişkili olarak sosyal medyayı aktif kullanmadıkları ortaya çıkmıştır. En çok kullanılan uygulamanın video ve fotoğraf paylaşımına imkan sağlayan ilk sosyal medya kanalı olması dolayısıyla Facebook olduğu ortaya çıkmış olup burada tarım iletişimi başlığı altında yapılan paylaşımların toplam paylaşımların yaklaşık yüzde 3’ünü oluşturduğu gözlenmiştir. Sosyal medyada tarım iletişimi paylaşımlarının yurt dışı belediyelerinde daha yoğun olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Birliğe üye belediyelerin paylaşımlarında Agricities vurgusu yapmadıkları görülmüştür.
Food insecurity remains a pervasive and persistent social justice concern, both locally and globally–a concern that was heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. This essay focuses on three short case studies around local food organizing, communication, and community in Greensboro, NC. Partners across three separate but related interventions leveraged their community and communication resources through listening sessions, surveys, and stories to ensure that individuals and families could continue to access food during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. By offering these case studies as an example of organizing (and reorganizing) during COVID-19, the analysis also opens up a conversation about power, resistance, and change at the intersections of poverty and access. Scholarly discussions of food insecurity continue to reinforce the need to address both food access and poverty in attempts to build resilient food systems. We take a community-engaged approach that emphasizes the importance of communication infrastructure to illustrate both the simple and mundane resources as well as the creative and innovative interventions that communities and their partners implemented during the initial onset of COVID-19 in the United States.
Marketplaces are almost as old as humanity. They result from trade and trade is structured by political, religious, social, and economic needs. Overtime, marketplaces have woven together relational processes representing each of these, in order to host trade, social life, political life, and all manner of economic activities. So, markets are bundles of activities tightly related reciprocally with, and in the context of social institutions. Likewise, marketplaces manifest expectations for how society sees itself and for how societies govern themselves. It is this framing opportunity which I exploit here. In this article I pursue the reconstruction of wicked problems to show how marketplaces are wicked opportunities. Wicked opportunity thinking can be applied to many other aspects of our contemporary life.
“Civic agriculture,” a term first coined by rural sociologist Thomas Lyson, refers to forms of agriculture that occur on a local level, from production to consumption, and are linked to a community’s social and economic development. Sixteen years since its original articulation, the term “civic agriculture” has taken on greater significance in research, political activism, and community organizing. Grown from the roots of civic community theory, civic agriculture functions as a new branch of civic community theory that is ripe for theorization. In revisiting the foundations of the term, this review paper seeks to consolidate current and future research in the field of civic agriculture with a focus on its link to social welfare. This begins by reviewing the foundations of civic community theory and discussing how they influence research related to civic agriculture. As we report in this paper, there remain considerable gaps in understanding of how civic agriculture can be fomented by—or is related to—indicators such as demographics, concentration of power, community cohesion, and civic engagement. Consequently, the assumed links between local food systems and social welfare must continue to be studied to determine correlation and causality. This understanding is particularly important during this time of global pandemic, when the flaws and inequities of global supply chains are exposed and where, in many cases, civic agriculture met the increasing interest in local food. The COVID-19 pandemic has amply demonstrated the fragility and instability of global food supply chains, making the need for local food systems more significant and more relevant to communities across the world.
Despite a growing body of scholarship on Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT), the applicability of CIT as an ecological approach in rural and suburban areas remains largely unexplored in comparison with its urban counterpart. The current study advances CIT across the geographically dispersed communities (i.e., urban, suburban, and rural) and explores how community storytelling networks, through social media and interpersonal discussion, interact with the diverse communities on civic participation. A nationwide online panel survey reveals that community-oriented social media (CSM) use was positively associated with civic participation. The results also indicate that the relationship between CSM and civic participation was stronger for those who reside in rural communities. Interpersonal discussion in this study played a similar role for residents living in suburban communities. This study’s theoretical contribution, policy implications, and practical applications are further discussed in the contexts of communication infrastructure, social media, and civic participation.
First paragraph:
The value proposition of farmers markets has been altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival-like features of markets put on hold, the in-person social interactions reduced, the physical flow of walk-up markets changed. Just as previous crises[1] called upon markets to shift their operations to serve their community, the 2020 story highlights how once again, these low-capacity/high-functioning entities have been forced to reinvent themselves. This time, alternative models involving online pre-orders, drive-thru, and curbside product pick-up scenarios have been rapidly put in place by individual vendors and market operators. Open-air and shed market vendor placements have been redesigned to allow for social distancing among both vendors and customers. Sanitation and public safety measures including gloves, hand sanitizer, and hand-washing facilities are now essential considerations.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxIbm-EyATs&feature=youtu.be
Young consumers value healthy foods and are willing to pay for them. As young consumers transition into higher paying jobs, their influence in the food system will compound. This study used a convenient sample of university students to understand how young consumers value attributes for fresh produce. With the proliferation of food labels, this study takes a step back to identify four consumer segments with regard to their values on explicit (i.e., organic and local) and implicit (i.e., small-family farms and sustainable) attributes: committed , farm-to-fork , unattached , and skeptic . The study also investigated the impact of personal motives on cluster membership. Although committed consumers placed high value on all attributes, farm-to-fork consumers valued local, sustainable, and small-family farm systems, but did not have positive valuation toward organic. Our findings suggest increasing access to local foods and farmers market patronage is likely to increase consumers’ valuing foods with local, organic, sustainable, and small-family farms attributes.
Purpose:
The purpose of this paper is to review the study of social capital focused on the level at which it is embodied, cross-comparing two prominent camps that have emerged in the social capital literature: a communal level and an individual level.
Design/methodology/approach:
This paper reviews the intersections and departures between communal level and individual level conceptualizations of social capital according to the social dynamics of action within social exchanges that they stimulate, the processes by which social capital is activated/mobilized and the rewards they yield, and their linkages to inequality through network diversity.
Findings:
This paper articulates new directions for future research in social capital: more analytical precision for studying returns to social capital; more efforts to transcend the individual-communal divide; the depreciation of social capital or tie decay; and recognizing the importance of ties whose value does not come from the ability to provide instrumental gain, but just from their very existence.
Originality/value:
Social capital has informed many influential agendas in the social sciences, but the sheer volume of which has largely gone unscoped. This paper reviews this literature to provide an accessible introduction to social capital, organized by social processes foundational to sociology and a novel contribution to the literature by articulating new directions for future research in the area.
This study uses a community food security (CFS) framework to understand how social capital and social cohesion may address food security. We assessed the presence of these constructs using a confirmatory factor analysis in the context of a community food assessment (N = 563). Social capital, social cohesion, and community food participation (e.g., CSAs, farmers’ markets, gardens) were unique factor structures that could lead to development and testing community-based interventions to improve food security, food access, and health. We provide a discussion of the conceptualization and measurement of these constructs, and offer areas of improvement helpful to practitioners and researchers.
The twin forces of globalization and devolution have created administrative circumstances that strain the problem-solving capacity of local governments and increase the importance of nongovernmental processes and institutions. The literature suggests that locally owned firms are more likely to engender higher levels of civic engagement critical to buttressing that problem-solving capacity. This research adds an additional dimension, investigating to whom those firms sell and through which supply channels. Using survey results from hundreds of local firms across five study sites, this research demonstrates that locally facing firms—that is, firms that intentionally interface with community members and other local businesses—are associated with greater levels of civic and political engagement compared with locally owned firms that sell their products to customers elsewhere. Findings suggest that local governments should look beyond the local/nonlocal ownership binary to consider how private firms can be partners in serving and supporting their communities.
The number of farmers markets in the United States has increased rapidly over the past decade. The emergence of trendier markets puts pressure on cities to rehabilitate their traditional markets to compete. When considering any new community enterprise, it is imperative to gather knowledge on the needs, wants, and extent of the potential customer base in order to shape it to local realities. While much has been said about the elitist nature of alternative food movement, one segment whose values and expectations have not been studied regarding farmers markets is young adults. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where farmers markets were in the process of transformation, a survey of the consumer preferences of a diverse sample of young adults at a large public university demonstrated the greater attraction of a more festival-like market, even if the produce was perceived as more expensive. Green values and the desire for a wide variety of items for purchase beyond fresh fruits and vegetables were other notable traits ...
This article has multiple aims: (1) to understand, with the help of descriptive statistics, how eaters engaged within various alternative foodscapes compare to more conventional eaters when asked questions about things like their interest in local politics, whether they volunteer, and their reasons for buying local foods; (2) to map, with the help of descriptive statistics, changes in how individuals respond to questions after being “exposed” to certain alternative foodscape experiences; (3) and to understand, with the help of practice theory and qualitative data, why individuals might think and behave differently after being exposed to these alternative doings and sayings, findings that lead to a discussion about how aspects of these alternative foodscapes engender the making of more-than-active citizens. A research team studied individuals in Colorado who had recently begun participating in one of the following practices: (1) drop-off community-supported agriculture (CSA), (2) CSA volunteer membership, (3) farmers’ market, and (4) member-owned food cooperative. Researchers surveyed participants and resurveyed them two years later, at which time sampled eaters were also engaged in an extensive qualitative interview, with a total of 119 personal interviews conducted. In addition, the team conducted a phone survey (n = 106) of randomly selected residents in Colorado to represent conventional eaters.
Civic agriculture is an approach to agriculture and food production that—in contrast with the industrial food system—is embedded in local environmental, social, and economic contexts. Alongside proliferation of the alternative food projects that characterize civic agriculture, growing literature critiques how their implementation runs counter to the ideal of civic agriculture. This study assesses the relevance of three such critiques to urban farming, aiming to understand how different farming models balance civic and economic exchange, prioritize food justice, and create socially inclusive spaces. Using a case study approach that incorporated interviews, participant observation, and document review, I compare two urban farms in Baltimore, Maryland—a “community farm” that emphasizes community engagement, and a “commercial farm” that focuses on job creation. Findings reveal the community farm prioritizes civic participation and food access for low-income residents, and strives to create socially inclusive space. However, the farmers’ “outsider” status challenges community engagement efforts. The commercial farm focuses on financial sustainability rather than participatory processes or food equity, reflecting the use of food production as a means toward community development rather than propagation of a food citizenry. Both farms meet authentic needs that contribute to neighborhood improvement, though findings suggest a lack of interest by residents in obtaining urban farm food, raising concerns about its appeal and accessibility to diverse consumers. Though not equally participatory, equitable, or social inclusive, both farms exemplify projects physically and philosophically rooted in the local social context, necessary characteristics for promoting civic engagement with the food system.
Many consumers are motivated to attend Farmers’ Markets (FMs) because of the opportunity to purchase fresh and local products. The subsequent interactions at FMs provide an important pathway for the direct exchange of information. While previous research suggests that people value local food and the FM shopping experience and that purchasing directly from producers can lead to transformative learning, little is known about exactly how the shopping experience at FMs can influence consumer purchasing behavior. This study examines the extent of and mechanism for such “influencing.” Using data from surveys, observations, and interviews gathered at six FMs, we analyze the interactions between consumers and vendors, including the motivations and values of both parties. We explore the question, “How do farmers’ markets facilitate change in consumer purchasing behavior?” We propose that the dynamic of change in consumer purchasing behavior at FMs takes root in the exchange of information between consumers and vendors during interactions. Our results suggest that there are three specific characteristics shared by FM consumers and vendors that lead to these meaningful interactions at FMs: symmetry of motivations to attend FMs, shared values, and mutual dependence on interactions. Then, when a consumer learns new information from a FM vendor during an interaction, the consumer is more likely to make a change in their immediate purchase. Information about the products for sale and the modes of production of those items can especially impact consumers’ immediate purchases at FMs. We found that FM interactions can also impact long-term purchasing behavior, such as purchasing more organic or locally produced foods. Our results suggest that FM interactions may have significant implications for consumer health, local economies, and the environment.
Throughout the United States, there is a fast growing movement centered on locally produced food.Consumers, farmers, and farmers’ markets are central components of this local food movement. In this study, we examine the local food movement in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW) and use farmers’ markets to understand DFW’s developing local food system and foodsheds. We also analyze how notions of place and community are manifest in DFW’s local food system. Research methods include interviews with farmers, customers, and farmers’ market coordinators and an analysis of the spatial distribution of three farmers’ market networks in DFW. Our findings show that community is important to the identity of DFW’s local food movement and that farmers’ markets serve as nodes for community. Thus farmers’ markets are not only important for local farming economies, but also stimulate notions of place and community in rapidly suburbanizing areas.
This pilot study explored farmer motivations for participating in a farmers’ market in ACT to shed light on whether it contributes to a more socially sustainable food system. An adaptation of ethnography including interviews, observations, and document analyses found three main themes—authentic, fresh, high quality food defines this farmers' market; desire for re-connections; and strengthening community—which were evaluated against a social sustainability framework. Findings showed that the Capital Region Farmers Market is a socially just and equitable food system where social capital can thrive. The study provides preliminary evidence that farmers’ markets can play a role in improving sustainability from a social perspective.
In this article, we examine the role that social capital plays in sustainable local food networks and community development.
Through a qualitative study, we explored the current local food system in the Midwest in the United States, and we began to
describe the role that social capital can play in developing this community. We asked the research questions: How can local
food systems contribute to the development of social capital in a community and how does the social capital contribute to
the development of the local food system? We used grounded theory methods to explore and understand how to support and expand
the food system for locally produced foods, including production, distribution, marketing, and promotion. The informants were
local foods participants from a community who had roles as growers, producers, educators, and advocates. We found that social
capital among the participants, while present and contributing to the system, is weakened by a lack of trust and divided goals.
We theorize that social capital expands in a community as a consequence of the connections and reciprocity that emerge with
the development of a locally grown food system when facilitated by trust and unified goals among the participants.
The social dimension of purchase seems particularly important when it comes to food, since it can contribute to foster “consumers’ embeddedness” in the local food system. The discussion on this topic is growing after the emergence of alternative food networks (AFNs), which are thought to have potentials to re-connect the different actors of local food systems, and/or to strengthen the existing social ties among them. This study focuses on the evaluation of the degree of sociality in different food shopping environments. The research is focused on the structure and the features of the interactions, with the aim to provide an assessment of the degree of sociality of AFNs compared to other food chain networks. More specifically, a farmers’ market, a greengrocer and a supermarket have been compared. The three shopping environments show remarkable differences: in the supermarket perfunctory interactions are most often observed, unless shoppers already know each other, whereas the farmers’ market environment is likely to foster quite intense relations among strangers; the greengrocer, on the contrary, shows a completely different pattern of relations, typically involving customers who already know each other. Results support the common argument that farmers’ markets may enhance sociality among people, although some interesting relations patterns are observed in the other food stores as well. Issues for further research in the field emerge, which might be useful to improve the understanding of the social dimension of food shopping as well as to more deeply analyse the elements of attractiveness of AFNs.
Purpose – This paper aims to report results from an exploratory study of farmers’ markets, taking
particular interest in the motives for participation of customers, and their perceptions of the
functioning of markets as co-created sites of local food production, retail and consumption. Customer
perceptions are also compared between farmers’ markets and supermarkets.
Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires were completed by 252 customers at 11 farmers’
markets around New Zealand in 2008-2009. Customers rated the importance of 31 constructs that might
influence their involvement. For comparison, 257 supermarket shoppers in Auckland completed a
similar questionnaire. Student t-tests are used to distinguish between samples and subsample groups.
Findings – The paper finds that product quality is the key motivator for patronage, with price not a
significant barrier to purchase or visits to farmers’ markets. The “retail environment” has only a
modest influence on market customer choices, and markets are only partially co-created, with
customers not highly valuing interaction with producers. Customers rated price, location and store
environment constructs to be much more important at supermarkets than at markets.
Originality/value – Farmers’ markets have experienced recent rapid growth and diffusion in many
parts of the world, including Australasia, becoming popular sites of small retail trade and local
cultural exchange. This paper contributes to the understanding of what motivates customers to
participate in them, and what distinguishes markets from other food retailing sites such as
supermarkets, at least in the New Zealand context.
This study reconsiders the purported benefits of community found in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Using an online survey of members who belong to CSAs in New York, between November and December 2010, we assess members’ reasons for joining a CSA, and their perceptions of community within their CSA and beyond. A total of 565 CSA members responded to the survey. Results show an overwhelming majority of members joined their CSA for fresh, local, organic produce, while few respondents joined their CSA to build community, meet like-minded individuals or share financial risk with farmers. Members reported that they do not derive a strong sense of community from either their CSA or other forms of community, yet they volunteered at their CSA and appear to be engaged in activities within their communities, though the frequency of the latter is unknown. These data suggest New York CSAs are oriented toward the instrumental and functional models, which emphasize the economic aspects of farming rather than collaborative models, which foster community (Feagan and Henderson 2009).
One strategy for lowering the prevalence of obesity is to increase access to and affordability of fruits and vegetables through farmers' markets. However, little has been documented in the literature on the implementation of such efforts. To address this gap, the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) sponsored an evaluation of the New York City Health Bucks program, a farmers' market coupon incentive program intended to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in underserved neighborhoods while supporting local farmers.
We conducted a process evaluation of Health Bucks program implementation. We interviewed 6 farmer/vendors, 3 market managers, and 4 program administrators, and collected data on site at 86 farmers' markets, including surveys of 81 managers and 141 farmer/vendors on their perspectives on promotion and redemption of the incentive coupons; knowledge and attitudes regarding the program; experiences with markets and products; and facilitators and barriers to program participation.
Results indicate that respondents view Health Bucks as a positive program model. Farmers' market incentive coupon programs like Health Bucks are one strategy to address the problem of obesity and were associated with higher fruit and vegetable access and purchases in low-income communities.
This evaluation identified some areas for improving implementation of the Health Bucks program. Farmers' market incentive programs like Health Bucks may be one avenue to increase access to and affordability of fruits and vegetables among low-income persons. Further research is needed to assess the potential effects of these programs on access and health outcomes.
This article develops and tests a communication infrastructure model of belonging among dwellers of urban residential environments. The concept of a communication infrastructure—a storytelling system set in its communication action context—is discussed. Storytelling neighborhood, the communication process through which neighborhood discussion transforms people from occupants of a house to members of a neighborhood, is proposed as an essential component of people's paths to belonging, an attachment to a residential area that is evidenced in everyday exchange behaviors. A multimethod research design is employed to study seven residential areas in Los Angeles through the use of multilingual data collection to discover the relevant factors that determine belonging in new and old immigrant communities. A communication infrastructure model that posits storytelling as an intervening process between structural location and belonging is proposed and tested. Overall, the most important factor in creating belonging was found to be an active and integrated storytelling system that involves residents, community organizations, and local media. The diagnostic potentials of the communication infrastructure approach and the policy implications of the findings are discussed.
Community building is emerging as an increasingly important intervention strategy for neighborhood revitalization efforts across the country. This article proposes a framework that models 5 components that the author argues comprise the community building process: resident engagement, agenda building, community organizing, community action, and communications and message development. The article is intended to make community building more comprehensible as a field of work and study and more replicable as an intervention strategy.
This paper explores hidden problems amid the impressive expansion of farmers' markets in Oregon and throughout the United States. Although markets are growing in number, a surprisingly large number of them fail. A challenge for many markets is inadequate revenue to support market operations such as paying for the management personnel to perform functions necessary to grow and sustain markets. Smaller markets may enter a downward spiral in which they cannot attract additional customers because they do not have sufficient vendors but cannot attract additional vendors because they do not have sufficient customers. The analysis identifies five intertwined factors associated with markets that fail: small size, a high need for products, low administrative revenue, a volunteer or low paid manager and high manager turnover. The paper also examines the more general issue of why some markets struggle by exploring a correlation between new markets and inexperienced managers, and effort thresholds for volunteer managers. Recommendations to assist markets toward success include better planning, manager and board of director training and community financial support. The findings of this study have broad application.
This is the third in a series of articles in this journal on the use of the case study method for landscape architecture. The first article presented the method and proposed three types of case studies—place-based, issue-based and teaching-based (Francis 2001). The second article reported on a place-based case study of the Village Homes community in Davis, California (Francis 2002). This article presents an issue-based case study on the meaning and design of farmers’ markets in public space. The article reviews the literature on the history and meaning of farmers’ markets, briefly summarizes the landscape context of the “most-popular†markets in the United States as determined by an online survey conducted by the American Farmland Trust, and presents four physical realms of the market place—the promenade, the working market, the market landscape, and the market neighborhood—as a conceptual framework to better understand the socio-spatial ecology of farmers’ markets and as a means to assess the landscape features and spatial patterns of five selected farmers’ market cases. We then present four design principles—permanency of design, flexibility, wholeness, and social life—as a means to further inform the planning and designing of farmers’ markets in public space.
Political consumerism is the intentional buying or abstention from buying specific products for political, social, or ethical purposes. We develop and test hypotheses regarding the individual sources of political consumerism in the United States. Analysis of survey data shows that similar to voting, education, political interest, and citizen duty promote political consumerism. Akin to protest behavior, political consumerism is enhanced by political distrust and general discontent. In contrast to turnout, political consumerism significantly decreases with age. Given the extraelectoral and self-initiated nature of political consumerism, citizen initiative and a proclivity for individualized forms of activism are significant sources of political consumerism.
The purpose of this study is to articulate the concepts and assumptions of communication infrastructure theory (CIT) in its present stage of development and validation. As an ecological approach to communication and community, CIT claims that access to storytelling community resources is a critical factor in civic engagement. When embedded in a neighborhood environment where key community storytellers encourage each other to talk about the neighborhood, individual residents are more likely to belong to their community, to have a strong sense of collective efficacy, and to participate in civic actions. CIT framework offers a way to examine the ecological processes that concern the effects of communication resources on civic community.
One innovative approach toward addressing community-level food access is nexus analysis. This framework suggests that social actions do not happen outside of context, but rather are embedded within unique political, cultural and economic histories. In this paper, I conduct a case study analysis of the South Memphis Farmers Market (SMFM), a community-based, resident-led farmers market located in South Memphis, TN. Drawing on an understanding that neighborhood-level institutions such as farmers markets serve as an intermediary space to examine the nexus of macro-level (e.g., how resources are drawn within a community) and micro-level processes (e.g., how residents determine what food to buy and who to buy it from), this paper traces the success of the SMFM as an illustration of positive local response to the question of “good food” access. Through its history, location and connection to its predominantly Black patrons, the SMFM was able to effectively address structural and cultural barriers as a means of improving food access. Findings from the study may offer insights to the theorization of culture and space in community-based health campaigns.
Purpose-This paper examines the possibility of using sense of belonging as an indicator for social capital. Social capital, from the collective social capital theory perspective, is constructed from three main elements: trust, social network and participation. Social capital is crucial to civil society and well-being, but there is no consensus on how to define and measure it. This paper approaches this problem with the different but related concept of sense of belonging, as belonging overlaps with social capital conceptually, but also is more amenable to measurement.
Design/methodology/approach-Qualitative and quantitative data was collected from approximately 800 university students and used to explore the relationship between belonging and social capital both conceptually and empirically in the higher education context.
Findings-The mixed methods research analysis in this paper provides strong evidence to show how sense of belonging and social capital are theoretically and empirically intertwined, Conceptually they occupy overlapping spheres and their connections can be clearly traced and measured. This is supported by substantial statistical evidence of their relatedness, despite their independent origins in social research. For these reasons, this paper argues that sense of belonging can be used as a simplified alternative way to measure social capital.
Originality/value-This paper explains the advantages of using sense of belonging to understand social capital. It sets out a conceptual framework and provides a statistical demonstration. This paper develops and enriches a current strand of social capital and sense of belonging research in the fields of sociology and higher education policy.
Purpose
Alternative food networks (AFNs) have recently emerged in the food landscape as new ways of food production, distribution and consumption which are alternatives to the traditional food system. Drawing on the tragedy of the commons, this paper aims to test the role played by social capital and transparency in reducing customer's lethargy and thus enhancing AFN performance in terms of frequency and quantity of purchases made by customers.
Design/methodology/approach
An ordered probit model was used to analyse data from a strong database of 2,115 Italian AFN customers. Given the novelty of the topic, the quantitative survey was anticipated by a preliminary qualitative study based on in-depth interviews, focus groups and participant observation.
Findings
Customers play an active role in AFN communities, co-creating value together with the other actors of the network. The two independent variables tested in this model, social capital and transparency, positively and significantly affect customers' quantity and frequency of purchases within AFNs, reducing the occurrence of the tragedy of commons.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, this study represents one of the first attempts to measure, through a quantitative method, the effect of performance drivers (i.e. social capital and transparency) on AFN performance. Theoretical, managerial and policy implications will be thoroughly presented and discussed along the paper.
Extension professionals across disciplines are involved with farmers' markets, and reports have indicated an increase in the number of farmers' markets across the country. We explored perspectives of farmers' market leaders regarding topics and data of interest and capacity and willingness to collect data related to market promotion. The purpose of our work was to provide Extension educators with information that may guide programming around farmers' markets. We collected data through an online survey of Wisconsin farmers' market leaders in spring 2017. Market leaders were most interested in learning how to encourage word-of-mouth communication between customers and engage in other low-cost strategies, such as having partners help promote a market.
This study looks at Report for America’s (RFA) efforts to strengthen the capacity of local news and increase trust from the perspective of two communities: a neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side and a rural county in Eastern Kentucky. Using a communication infrastructure theory framework, we examined RFA’s impact on the local news environment by following 28 residents through two rounds of focus groups, interviewing 15 journalists and RFA staff, and conducting content analysis of local stories from the Chicago Sun-Times and Lexington Herald-Leader. The study illustrates the influence of place and power dynamics in how residents navigate trustworthiness factors. We explore how RFA’s intervention in these two cases has gone some way to offer more complex narratives about communities, but due to a lack of feedback loops, has been limited in its ability to provide coverage for communities.
In many communities across the United States, substantive local news is a rare commodity. For areas long stigmatized and associated with high levels of violence, crime, and poverty, negative reporting may be the only local news available. Drawing from communication infrastructure theory and literature on local news audiences and civic journalism, this study explores how a local solutions journalism project is received by members of an underrepresented and stigmatized community. Solutions journalism stories focus on responses to social problems, usually exploring problem-solving efforts that have the potential to be scaled. This case examines how participants in six focus groups with 48 African-American and Latino South Los Angeles residents responded to solutions-oriented stories produced by a local media project. Study findings illustrate how residents navigate and critically interpret local media coverage, and how their response to ‘solutions journalism’ is largely positive but tempered by concerns regarding structural inequalities.
Computer-mediated communications, in particular listservs, can be powerful tools for creating social change—namely, shifting our food system to a more healthy, just, and localised model. They do this by creating the conditions—collaborations, interaction, self-reflection, and personal empowerment—that cultivate distributed leadership. In this article, we will show how the listserv hosted by the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC), a US-based non-profit organisation, acts as an important venue for involvement in a community of practice, through which informal learning and the formation of distributed leadership takes place. The learning that takes place through this listserv can be seen as part of a transformative process that empowers participants to make change and builds unity across the movement.
The design and management of many urban public spaces have been criticized for failing to serve the needs of residents (Hester, 1984; Jackson, 1981). Nonuse rather than overuse of parks and plazas is the problem (Gold, 1978). Francis (1987) traces the origins of open-space research to public awareness of the social failure of these settings. Some aspects of nonuse have been dealt with through redesign. Another approach to nonuse involves expanding the range of uses through innovative programs that attract larger numbers and broader categories of users. Special events such as concerts, exhibits, and festivals create secondary territories under the control of vendors, city agencies, etc., in contrast to anonymous public areas seemingly belonging to no one. One of the most successful means for bringing large numbers of people into urban open spaces on a regular and predictable basis is the farmers’ market (FM).
Social media are transforming communication between organizations and their audiences, and even changing the organizations themselves. Social media's low cost and low requirements for technical skills needed to both use and maintain an online presence allow small businesses with limited marketing budgets to use the same marketing strategies as bigger businesses with large marketing budgets. In addition, social media provides businesses direct and interactive ways to reach out and retain customers. This case study analyzes Cedar Park Farmers Market (CPFM)'s use of its Facebook page. Using Facebook Graph API Explorer, we extracted data regarding posts and fans of CPFM's Facebook page since the page was created. We then examined the data to explore the social networks, including farmers market organizers, vendors, and customers, within CPFM's Facebook page and how the market used its Facebook page, by looking at the Facebook page layout, composition of fans, post intensity, post ownership, media type, and degree of engagement. We found that (1) the market organizers, customers, vendors, and local communities were all engaged with the CPFM Facebook page; (2) the CPFM used Facebook as a marketing platform to publish timely information (e.g., available products or upcoming events) and to reach and retain customers and vendors; and (3) the CPFM's Facebook page functioned as a cyber–social hub to connect and engage the local community.
This study draws upon communication infrastructure theory to investigate how communication networks stimulate civic participation within a community development context. According to the communication infrastructure theory (CIT), local communication resources enable citizens to engage in collective action for the common good. The CIT proposes neighborhood storytelling networks (NSNs) as core communication assets: interpersonal discussion, connection to community organizations, and connection to local media, including traditional mass media and the Internet. To examine the relationship between NSN and civic participation, data were collected from a probabilistic, representative sample through a mail survey in a southeastern state (N = 1154) in the US. Analysis reveals that individual sociodemographic characteristics and community context factors predicted connections to the NSN in a distinct way and such connections yielded positive relationships with civic participation. These results carry important theoretical, practical, and policy-related implications.
Oakland's Freedom Farmers' Market is more than a venue for food exchange; it is a gathering place for Black cultural expression and economics. More often than not, Black farmers are shut out and even pushed out of mainstream farmers markets. However, fresh food and Black farmers are celebrated at the Freedom Farmers' Market each week. This commentary discusses the critical ways in which this market represents a social discourse about decolonizing our food system. Embedded within this place analysis is also, necessarily, a critique of the dominant places people currently have available for food. The Freedom Farmers' Market has become a model for disenfranchised peoples to take control of their own food system.
Farmers' markets play a vital role in local economic development by providing a site for local and small business incubation, creating an economic multiplier effect to neighboring businesses, and recycling customer dollars within the community. While several studies have evaluated characteristics of farmers' markets within single metropolitan areas, few have compared the impact of multiple markets in socioeconomically contrasting regions.This research compares shopping habits and economic impacts of customers at farmers' markets in two North American cities: Flint, Michigan, and London, Ontario. Overall, 895 market visitors completed surveys. We conducted statistical and spatial analyses to identify differences between these markets. Though geographically proximate and similar in metropolitan size, the two cities differ greatly in recent economic development, social vitality, and public health indicators. The objectives of this article are to quantify the impact that each market has on its local economy and contextualize these impacts in light of the place-specific attributes of each market.Results indicate that customers come from a mix of urban and suburban locations, but that key urban areas do not draw a substantial share of customers. Marketing efforts in nearby disadvantaged neighborhoods, therefore, might yield new customers and increase multiplier effects within the neighborhoods. The London market drew slightly younger customers who shopped less frequently, while the Flint market drew an older crowd that attended more regularly. This may be attributable to the relative age of the markets, and certainly reflects the marketing push of each market's managers. Given the opportunity to compare similarities and differences, much can be learned from each market in terms of opportunities for marketing, local economic development, and increased community vitality.
This article contributes to the burgeoning literature on the social determinants of health disparities. The authors investigate how communication resources and collective efficacy, independently and in combination, shape residents' access to health enhancing resources (including healthcare services, sources of healthier food options, and public recreation spaces) in their communities. Using random digit dial telephone survey data from 833 residents of South Los Angeles communities the authors show that communicative social capital-that is, an information and problem-solving resource that accrues to residents as they become more integrated into their local communication network of neighbors, community organizations, and local media-plays a significant role in access to health resources. This relationship is complicated by individuals' health insurance and health status, as communicative social capital magnifies the sense of absence of resources for those who are in worse health and lack insurance. Communicative social capital builds collective efficacy, which is positively related to access to health-enhancing resources, but it also mediates the negative relationship between communicative social capital and access to health resources. Residents with richer stores of communicative social capital and collective efficacy report better access to health resources. The authors conclude with a discussion of implications of these findings and suggestions for future research.
Research consistently shows the typical farmers market shopper is a white, affluent, well-educated woman. While some research to date examining farmers markets discusses the exclusionary aspects of farmers markets, little has expounded on this portrait of the typical shopper. As a result of this neglect, the potential of farmers markets to be an inclusive, sustainable development tool remains hindered. This study seeks to better understand this typical shopper by drawing upon anti-consumerism literature to examine the motivations of these shoppers. Findings from a survey of 390 shoppers in a predominately Hispanic community are discussed. Results from the survey indicate that even in a community in which white, non-Hispanics are the minority, the farmers market shopper is likely to be a white, non-Hispanic female who is more affluent and well educated than the average community member. Theoretical implications and suggestions for those working in community development are discussed. Suggestions for future research are also provided.
Several scholars have claimed that small-scale agriculture in which farmers sell goods to the local market has the potential to strengthen social ties and a sense of community, a phenomenon referred to as “civic agriculture.” Proponents see promise in the increase in the number of community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, farmers markets, and other locally orientated distribution systems as well as the growing interest among consumers for buying locally produced goods. Yet others have suggested that these novel or reborn distribution mechanisms are still primarily means of instrumental economic exchange and that optimistic characterizations of a renewed sense of community emerging from these practices are unfounded. This study provides an empirical assessment of the extent to which these community-based agriculture markets are associated with connection to community, volunteerism, and civic and political activities. In order to assess the relationship between civic agriculture and community engagement, we surveyed over 1,300 people in the Mid-Hudson region of New York State. The study design includes “civic agriculture participants” as the unit of analysis, defined as CSA farm members, shoppers at independent health food stores, and farmers market patrons. For comparison, a telephone survey of randomly selected residents of the region’s general population was also conducted. Unlike studies that focus solely on the perceptions of certain civic agriculture participants (e.g., CSA members), by comparing the perceptions and behaviors of those engaged in a range of civic agriculture practices, we are able to identify the effects of different forms of participation. The results demonstrate higher levels of voluntarism and engagement in local politics among civic agriculture participants relative to the general population. In addition, we found variation among those engaged in different forms of civic agriculture, with those immersed in more socially embedded forms of exchange demonstrating greater community and political involvement. These findings lend empirical support to the civic agriculture thesis.
This article summarizes what we know about marketplaces in the United States, relates that knowledge to a research agenda on the subject, and makes suggestions for planning practice. This review accomplishes these three goals beginning with a historical review of marketplaces, focused mostly on the United States. The research literature on marketplaces is reviewed from political, economic, social, and health perspectives with suggestions for further basic and applied research. In short, the article shows how marketplaces were once tools of nascent planning and public policy, describes the reasons they should be again, and shows how planners and policy makers can advance public purposes through markets.
The number of farmers' markets in the United States continues to grow, suggesting an increasing interest in community food systems. Yet, little conclusive research has been conducted to characterize farmers' market customers. The purpose of this literature review is to more definitively examine the current farmers' market consumer base established in published research studies. We explore demographic factors as well as motivations and barriers for farmers' markets shoppers. Based on current research, it is clear that an assortment of complex and interrelated factors influence an individual's choice to shop at farmers' markets and that a more consistent data gathering method is needed.
Purpose
The paper seeks to explore the importance of a sample of New Zealand farmers' markets in providing a supportive setting for the take‐off as well as the decline stage of the small business life cycle, with a view to identifying factors that may enhance rural small business survivability.
Design/methodology/approach
The task was achieved by use of a combination of interviews and case studies. A list of new generation farmers' markets was compiled. Managers from four of these markets were interviewed to identify the possible existence of businesses that had been fostered by, but had now outgrown, the market. Four incubated businesses were selected from one of the longer established markets. From a more recently established market, 18 stallholders were selected for examination of their attitudes towards the market as a nurturing environment in relation to the life‐cycle stage of the business. Data were analysed using qualitative techniques of theme identification and analysis.
Findings
It was found that farmers' markets can have a role as small business incubators and safety nets, thus enhancing the survival chances of rural small businesses. This may be particularly useful where dwindling government subsidies and growing supermarket power result in declining incomes and reduced outlets for small‐scale farmers and rural producers.
Research limitations/implications
The research findings are limited by the non‐random nature of the sampling procedure. In such an exploratory study, the main emphasis was on establishing the existence of the incubator and safety net functions. Further research is needed to establish the extent of these roles.
Originality/value
The research investigates a relatively unique setting of an unsubsidised agricultural sector.
Public markets were once essential parts of the cityscape and they are becoming so again. Markets serve several purposes, social, political, and economic, and so planners interested in multipurpose tools for development will be interested in public markets. Markets can help achieve a variety of goals including place-making, employment, and entrepreneurship. This article focuses on markets as tools of business incubation. Archival data and literature shows how important markets once were to cities. Ethnographically collected data from Chicago's Maxwell Street market illustrates the individual and structural factors that account for businesses created at the market. Rural and urban markets are emerging or being rehabilitated all over the country — this research helps planners understand the history of markets, their multi-disciplinary nature, and the circumstances of people creating businesses at markets.
In health-communication research, participants who are disproportionately affected by health disparities are often “hard-to-reach,” making them difficult to identify for formative research. This study used communication infrastructure theory (CIT) to create a strategy for locating a specific subset of residents—those who use 911 for healthcare—within a low-income Atlanta community. Findings suggest the need for strategies that involve employing both the communication channels that are part of the neighborhood storytelling network and the community's discursive spaces, more specifically the communication hot spots and community comfort zones located within the community's built environment.
Academics and activists highlight the potential for alternative agrifood movements to contribute to the evolving coalescence of justice and sustainability. This potential, however, is constrained by what scholars have identified as the prevalent whiteness of such movements. This paper uses ethnographic research at two northern California farmers markets to investigate how whiteness is performed and perpetuated through the movements’ discourses and practices. We found that many managers, vendors and customers hold notions of what farmers and community members should be that both reflect and inform an affluent, liberal habitus of whiteness. Although whiteness pervades these spaces, we have also witnessed individual discourses and acts of solidarity and anti-racism, as well as fledgling institutional efforts to contest white cultural dominance. We conclude by discussing the potential of farmers markets to create an anti-racist politics of food.