Participant Observation: Food Culture at Farmers Markets

Student Illustrator: Sanjiv Geeban

Student Author: Abigail Turner

For this paper, I wanted to explore the type of agricultural system that is found in farmer’s markets because it differs from traditional American agriculture and virtually eliminates or decreases the need for a commodity chain. I visited two of my local farmer’s markets and interviewed five vendors overall. The interview consisted of a variety of questions ranging from wealth inequality to farmer’s market demographics. The common themes of my interviews were 1) farmer’s markets having an open culture where people are willing to try new things, 2) relationships forming between vendors and customers, and 3) creating an elitist culture. Creating relationships between the vendor and customer is what makes farmers markets unique; it is hard to find that direct interaction in a large supermarket. Additionally, farmers at farmer’s markets typically are the direct beneficiaries of their profits, and there is no middleman--no commodity chain. As a result, farmers price their products to make a living wage, thus avoiding wealth inequality. Shopping at farmer’s markets supports local farmers and does not increase CO2 from cross-country grocery transportation that chain supermarkets rely on. My hope with this paper is to encourage people to go to their local farmers market and hopefully form a relationship with these producers.

This is part of the Annual Poster Session, a collaboration between the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Department and the Media Arts and Technologies Department, featuring work by social science and illustration students.