Abstract
The Market Together project of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College examines how neighborhood-based, digital marketing and promotion can contribute towards the growth and long-term survival of farmers markets in low-income, urban communities. Despite the need for healthy, fresh food in low-income, urban communities, farmers markets in these areas struggle to survive. Among the factors causing this struggle is the dominant narrative in local food culture which portrays farmers markets are an amenity that caters to affluent customers and gourmet “foodies.” This narrative is exacerbated in the context of the rapid gentrification of traditionally working-class urban neighborhoods, in which farmers markets are aligned with new restaurants and other food institutions that displace businesses catering to the financial and cultural needs of long-time residents. If farmers markets are going to successfully grow in urban communities, there is a need to change this narrative, and position farmers markets as community-serving institutions that fit into the cultural context of the local neighborhood. The Market Together project looks specifically at the use of social media as a marketing tool, and how social media and social networks can be used to align farmers markets with important community institutions. The Market Together poster session will present how social media can be used by farmers markets and best practices to establish community connections in the digital age.
Digital Media
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