Author: David Coffey
Planning Unit: Jackson County CES
Major Program: Local Food Systems
Plan of Work: Agriculture Production and Marketing
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
Over the summer of 2022, the ANR and 4-H agents brainstormed, thinking of what would bring in more people to the farmers' market; after much discussion, the agents concluded that one way to attempt to increase numbers at the farmers market is to bring in a different local food truck each week. Jackson County has an outstanding variety of local food trucks to offer the county, including BBQ, Country style, pizza, and traditional food trucks. The agents scheduled a different food truck for each Friday of the farmers market. The result of this choice had a tremendous influence on the farmer's market because the market size grew tremendously on Fridays, going from, on average, 50 people when there was not a food truck to 200 people when there was a food truck. In addition, we noticed that the time customers spent at the market increased. The Thought Process of the ANR and 4-H agents was if someone comes to market and grabs lunch, they might have to wait on their food allowing them to look around at the market and buy fresh produce, this was the exact result achieved. Not only did the farmer's sales go up, most farmers went from selling a few items to ultimately selling out of all products they brought with the day the food truck was there; not only did the farmers do outstanding local food trucks did terrific as well. Several food trucks have approached the agents have had their best day of the summer at the market, selling out completely. This has been an enormous success for farmers and the food trucks involved. Food trucks include the Jackson County Cattleman Association, Bowman's Baby Butt BBQ, Crazy Eatz Pizza, and Ms. D Country Cooking.
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