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8 - SMFM Year 1 ReportThe South Miami Farmers’ Market Year One Report Executive Summary The South Miami Farmers’ Market is a place where on a weekly basis community organizes around local, sustainable food. The Market encourages small, local growers, develops local micro-businesses and builds community. The focus on local foods and sustainable practices distinguishes this market from all others in the area. The market received a $10,000 grant via the City of South Miami from the Health Foundation of South Florida for farmers market start-up, marketing and EBT. In the first year of the market, it has grown slowly to have a small but steady base of high quality vendors and loyal market-goers. The feel of it and the quality is such, that the Miami New Times recognized it as the Best Farmers’ Market for 2011. Compared to other markets that started in the same year, we have done exceedingly well. We have soon over 15,000 visitors in the last 11 months. We have a pool of over 60 vendors that have attended different times of the year. We have covered our direct cost of running the Market, are projected to cover 10% of our administrative costs, and look forward to expanding and thriving in years to come. In no uncertain terms, the success of market has been the result of a collaborative effort between Earth Learning and the Green Task Force Farmers’ Market committee. The Farmers’ Market Committee has been a source tireless devotion week in and week out. Welcoming market-goers, taking pictures for FaceBook, gaining feedback from residents, and bringing life to the market: live music, free plants and seeds, children’s activities, information and education, programming like Earth Day, regular yoga and qigong, workshops in gardening. Earth Learning’s Community FoodWorks Apprentices and friends have brought a wide variety of cooking demonstrations and skills-based workshops and the South Miami Hospital continues offer monthly health screenings. There is a wide range of food available - fresh local organic and conventional vegetables, fruits, and eggs regularly, usually some locally prepared food, and sometimes meat and seafood that is locally and sustainably produced. Local farms grow crops appropriate to the region that are healthy for both the land and the eater (oyster mushrooms, Malabar spinach, sweet potatoes, collard greens, carambola, avocado, roselle, mamey, key limes, honey). One of the vendors offers fresh vegetables used in traditional Hispanic dishes (jicama, cilantro, tomatillos, cactus paddles) that are not available in supermarkets. Much of what we offer is below retail prices for comparable items, even at conventional groceries. And most importantly, we always make room for community members to bring in their produce to sell. The Market has been sustained by its vendors, primarily the anchors: The Stand, L’Atalier Gourmet, Crackerman’s Crackers, Laura’s Produce, many others that have been successful and have participated at the Market a good number of weeks. We have had as many as 18 vendors in the cool dry months and as low as 6 vendors during the summer. One of the keys to our success is that the City has allowed Market to move for the summer, giving it the ability to be adaptive (right-size itself and stay cool). In fact the City of South Miami has been a very welcoming host for the Market. From the beginning, it opened the space for it to exist; drilled holes in the pavement for the large tent to be installed; patiently, but firmly guided our vendors to be compliant with permits; The Manager included the Market his newsletter, and staff helped find creative solutions for banners and signage to bring much needed awareness of the Market. Awareness of the Market continues to grow organically: Word of mouth and visibility around the Market area are critical. We are constantly finding new, fresh ways to promote the Market. We have advertised in community newspapers, in Edible South Florida, listed the Market in community calendars, posted The South Miami Farmers’ Market Year One Report information at the Library. We have a very active FaceBook page and an email-based Market Update that is read by over 400 people. We have forged a partnership with Green Wheel Marketing a mobile bicycle advertising and alternative marketing venture, to promote the Market on Fridays and Saturdays. Our efforts to attract everyone possible extend well beyond marketing. We are constantly reaching out to new vendors, nurturing start -up vendors and community-based micro-enterprises, incentivizing existing vendors to commit to 18-week seasons. The Market accepts EBT/SNAP (food stamps) and doubles the value of purchases up to $20 in order to incentivize those who cannot otherwise afford to buy fresh produce. Active outreach is being conducted to South Miami’s lower-income communities in the C.R.A. district to create awareness for this resource and cooking demonstrations are helping educate all on how to prepare the local sustainably-grown produce in easy, creative and healthful ways. Family Day, is a good example of a collaborative outreach effort with The Drug-Free Coalition, where double the amount of people came the Market, ate healthy food together as family, and enjoyed various activities that the Market had to offer. Anyone who has attended the Market semi-regularly can attest to the fact that it is getting better continuously! We expect that it will continue to do so in the coming year with new, committed vendors and increased audiences that enjoy the Market weekly. Specifically, we will attract more local food and artisanal vendors by offering an initial trial period at reduced cost and by nurturing some of them within The Stand or the Community Booth, by offering incentive for longer–term commitments, and by attracting more market-goers to the Market. In order to meet its stated financial objectives, Earth Learning has set a goal of maintaining an average of 10 vendors every Market, half of which will commit to 18 weeks. We plan to activate a public awareness campaign for the Market. Earth Learning has hired a part-time Outreach Coordinator, we are starting a local food hub, to build relationships with more local farmers and growers (including home growers), and bring an even better variety of sustainably-grown local produce to market, and we plan to bring a more sustained learning programs to further enrich experiences for market-goers. The Market more than ever could the support the City to celebrate its success and continue bringing awareness to all residents of what has become a thriving community amenity. This year we have had two very talented individuals bring their energies to the Market as Market Managers: David Harper, who launched the Market early on and nurtured through the start-up phase and Chelsea Wilkes, who brought her skills to bear on enriching and helping it thrive in spite of a hot summer and less-than-easy summer. Our new Market Manager, Cristina Cortes, a South Miami resident, expert with events and a highly-trained personal chef (trained with Michelle Bernstein), has come aboard an is ready and excited to take the Market to the next level! As was stated from the beginning, as the Market thrives, all funds beyond the fixed costs incurred will continue to be reinvested in enhancing the market - not elsewhere. Our gratitude for all who have played their part to make the South Miami Farmers’ Market what it is and will continue to become! The South Miami Farmers’ Market Year One Report The South Miami Farmers’ Market Story: The Evolution of a Vibrant Community Space The South Miami Farmers’ Market exists to create a marketplace for fresh, healthy, local foods, and a space for a resurgence of home -grown, well -informed, active residents and community groups who want to shape a sustainable future for their community. In the Beginning The South Miami Farmers’ Market opened on a beautiful Saturday morning December 4th 2010 with a dozen or so vendors and its central component, The Stand, a large green tent that draws attention from passersby, and sells local, sustainably-grown produce and farm products. Banners and signs attracted a fair amount of market-goers, who very soon became repeat customers. With the collaboration of City staff and with the tireless leadership of the Green Task Force’s Market Committee, we got off to an amazing start. In January, the Market had its Grand Opening on January 22nd and our first musical performance, from local musicians singing acapela. We featured face-painting for the children, raffles of market products, began our first seed exchange, and increased our vendors in quantity and diversity. South Miami Hospital made their first of ongoing monthly health screenings. By February, Hannibal, our resident musician began playing his guitar so beautifully and bringing merriment to the Market. The Community FoodWorks Apprentices (beginning farmers) began a long string of ongoing cooking demos, turning people on to creative and healthy ways to prepare what is available at The Stand. We were not having many EBT/SNAP users at the Market, our Apprentices began a concerted effort to reach out to residents in the C.R.A. area to let them know that they could not only use their EBT cards to buy fresh, local produce, but that we would double the value of their purchases, essentially giving them half of the price of food items up to $20. Around this time, we suffered a setback with our signage as we were restricted on the use of A-frames that are so critical to bringing in customers for Farmers’ Markets everywhere. Attendance suffered for several months and vendor turnover became higher. In March, had our first band rock the Market for several hours. By this point, we began to learn together with our vendors what market-goers liked about our Market, why they came, and what they enjoyed doing there. Vendors repeatedly commented on the loyalty of the market-goers compared to other markets. It is such a common occurrence to hear appreciation for the Market and the many rich, neighborly interactions that it encourages. They especially enjoy t he access to local, sustainably -grown food. It is common to hear appreciation for the high quality of its vendors and the very different, comfortable (human-scale) feel. We received a much needed donated bicycle rack from Mack Cycle. Rounding Out By April, programming began in earnest at the Market: both yoga and qigong were regularly scheduled under the big tree. We kicked off our semi-regular workshop series with a very well attended organic body care class. We celebrated our fist themed market day: Earth Day. How glorious! Children from Ludlum Elementary and Fairchild Elementary displayed their art work and projects, were recognized, and enjoyed the day with their families learning showing us the importance of learning to love our planet (they know better than we do). They enjoyed music, face painting, story-telling by librarians, and all kinds of fun activities. By this point, regular edible and native plants were being sold at Market and traded by community members. Our first community member brought backyard lemons to sell at The Stand. The South Miami Farmers’ Market Year One Report May saw our first “Organic Jam:” an interactive musical experience lead by some fantastic musicians that gather under the large tree and invite others to join in. What a groove they have going for hours on end! And market-goers join in as they like to make music. The Stand became an incubator of sorts for new vendors to try out the Market with little investment. In May, we approached the City with a creative solution to our signage challenge: Banners on the clock tower during Market day! It was approved and traffic increased almost immediately. We made our first EBT sale; outreach was paying off. Into the Shade In June, in preparation for the long hot summer, the market prepared to migrate under the shade trees in the parking lot between the Library and City Hall. We were not sure if we would survive the move and even be seen by market-goers as we had to forgo our big green tent that was always so visible from Sunset. But, it turned out to be a wonderful move. The shade made all the difference and our reduced size for summer made it all feel so much cozier. Misting made it a little cooler for market-goers, who still came. Although by now, less people were coming out as school let out for summer. Still, our core (and hardcore) vendors stuck with us through it all…and their extremely loyal customers helped us all make it through our first summer fairly gracefully! Of course, the fruits of summer in Miami are so worth it!!! And, we were named Market of the Year 2011 by the Miami New Times!!! By July and into August, the cooking demos had turned to all day workshops on cooking healthy French toast to sweet potato leaves to making all types of healthy fruit smoothies. By now, a robust native plant give-away had begun and we had all kinds of neat demos like bee-keeping and container gardening. Lots of activism had begun to arise organically such as voter registration efforts, petitions, including one to make South Miami more bike-friendly (over 1,000 signatures collected to date). We hosted an interactive art exhibit, The Tree, were children of all ages were invited to paint their own art work. Falling Back into Place September came around not too soon! As children began returning to school, market-goers attendance began to increase steadily. Story-telling became a regular occurrence by now. We enjoyed a yarn spinning demonstration by Spinning in Public Spaces. Increase d activism by local groups, including Moving Planet, came through and enjoyed the Market. And we invited the fall season into full swing by moving back to the front where we started and celebrated Family Day, a celebration that encourages families eating together. A delicious free BBQ lunch of pastured poultry and organic grilled veggies was served up, South Miami’s own Levy Kelley. There was a bounce house, face painting and all types of children’s activities. Market-goers enjoyed disc golf and non-stop wo rkshops and cooking demos. We traded with a local marketer for booth space and now he promotes us several days a week via an innovative and green bicycle advertising system. We are only part way into October, but we are seeing increased interest from new vendors as well as longer term commitments from existing vendors. Organic Jam is now electrified, so cool! Qigong continues after a brief hiatus and two new features are now part of the Market: a Community Booth that is incubating household ventures that will hopefully become permanent vendors at the Market and a real lemonade stand run by neighborhood children! The South Miami Farmers’ Market Year One Report What Makes this Market SO Special The South Miami Farmers’ Market is a cut above the rest. We may not be the largest, but we are real, authentic, and truly enjoyable. Real and meaningful connections happen. A sense of community and place is palpable. The quality of our vendors is memorable. They are the engine that keeps us going and keep us here. Some have been with us from the beginning and others come when they can. Some realize that their products don’t have a market and others grow their businesses so well that they outgrow us. Many will of course return. We are grateful to all of them for leaving their mark on us. See below for a partial list of vendors. Community happens. People come in all kinds of ways, shapes, and sizes to enjoy a diversity of things. People from all around come on bicycle to the Market: e ntire families, groups of friends, couples, and singles. Walkers and runners come too. So many pets, mainly dogs, but exotic birds too. Employees from the Hospital come over before or after the shift change to get their produce. There are never bored children; so much for them to enjoy. Such an amazing diversity of backgrounds and cultures come to enjoy the Market. Conversations start up everywhere. All types of exchanges happen. Ideas for business ventures and community improvements unfold. People get to be who they are, they get to know each other and have a chance to find what they need. Sustainability happens too. We have all but eliminated disposable plastic from the Market. All the food is served in biodegradable wares. People have learned to bring their own bag. Very little non-recyclable waste is produced; all food scraps are composted. We create learning experiences for people on how to do more for themselves. We connect people to their food and empower them to make informed choices. And, we get to know our farmers. The Stand makes it possible for farmers (of all kinds) and local food producers to come regularly or be represented; we label everything, so that market-goers know who grew their food and where and how it was grown. Trust happens. And they get to talk to some of the farmers, they learn about new food items and how to prepare them, and about their health benefits. And, so healthy happens. Invariably, in so many ways, how can it not. Physical activity, conversation, real, local, sustainably-grown food, regular check-ups and screenings, music and jamming out, leisureliness, peace of mind for a while, friends and acquaintances, massages, spiritual practices, animal companions, activism, happy children. What better way can we enjoy part of our week? The South Miami Farmers’ Market Year One Report Our Market-Goers The South Miami Farmers’ Market has seen a conservative estimate of over 15,000 people attending the since its inception December 4th 2011. There are so many repeat customers and yet there are so many new faces every week. The diversity of colors, cultures, languages, backgrounds are striking. As the Market shifts from season to season, everything changes. Are market-goers are cultivating community and relationship. They are liking us in person but also on Face Book during the week where they keep connecting with us and with each other. Our Vendor Community Adriana’s Orchids Arrowhead Beef Bambi’s Kitchen Bee Heaven Farm** C&B Farms** Café Luigi** Capt. Greg’s Seafood Caribbean Juices Ceramic League Ceviche Parlor Cheesecake Gallery Coconut Grove Farm** Coffman Chiropractic Community FoodWorks Complete Chiropractic Crackerman’s Crackers* Dynasty Organic Bakery** Earthy Chic Everglades Seafood Fatima Candles Fireman Derek Key Lime Pies Frank Macaluso’s Homegrown** Freakin’ Flamingo** Gastropod Gerbaud Bakery Giangranda Olive Oils Grassfed Beef & Pastuered Poultry Guacamole House Guara Ki Eco Farm** Gypsy Kitchen Hani’s Mediterranean Organics Happy Shrooms** Health and Happiness Farm** Home Bistro Kendall College of Acupuncture and Massage Kia’s Oriental Kitchen** Kidz Corner Kreative Gardens L’Atalier Bakery* Lamoy Living Foods Lana (Sara Molano) Laura’s Produce* Little River Market Garden/CSA ** Martita’s Banana Bread Mary Gehm Greating Cards Mr. Dean’s Greens Mr. Smoothie Native Plant Society Olga’s Local Produce Operation Green Leaves Organic Green Solutions Pasta Amore Possum Trot Rasta Cart 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000Dec '10Jan '11Feb '11Mar '11Apr '11May '11Jun '11Jul '11Aug '11Sep '11Oct '11 (proj)Average FB Activity Estimated Market Visits The South Miami Farmers’ Market Year One Report Recycled handbags Redland Herb Farm* Returned Peace Corp Veterans* Ruben’s Smoothies and BBQ Seriously Organic Siggi’s Organics ** Stone Lamps Strickley’s Stone Crab Sun Air Cooling The Alexander Foundation Three Sisters Farm** VitaOrganix Worden Farm** * Anchor vendors; ** From The Stand Reaching Out We’ve been making a concerted effort, almost from our inception, to reach out to less likely market-goers, who yet do not see the value of healthful food or may be under the impression that Farmers Markets are not for them. We are making a pronounced outreach effort in the CRA community to share with them access to our local bounty and make all aware of the health benefits and the incentives we are offering. At first, people were not taking advantage, so we turned our efforts to cooking demos and giving samples and advertising and more signage. Also, we began canvassing the community and connecting with churches and community groups. The word is finally getting out, although there is so much work to be done. We know this because the usage is still relatively low however there has been a significant increase since our first sale. Our first sale was $13 at the beginning of summer (a relatively slow period) to a total of over $600 by the end of September and projected to double by December. An Extraordinary Collaboration Putting on the Market and transforming the space from an empty parking lot to instant community amenity is an extraordinary feat. And it happens week in and week out, rain or shine. Everyone involved plays their part and it all is self-organized beautifully. The City staff ensure the parking lot is empty. Police open doors to bathrooms and unlock patio. The Market Manager sets up the space. The vendors arrive bright and early to set up their booths. The Stand goes up. The Farmers’ Market committee table arrives to direct social activities. Before opening the first set of market-goers trickles in. The signs go up. And action. Market-goers trickle in casually, the flow begins. Code enforcements keeps our vendors on their toes and compliant regularly. Music, workshops happen voluntarily. Our Apprentices run The Stand masterfully. By closing, we see last rush of market-goers as vendors are putting away their goods. Everything is picked up and carted away. You would never know it was there an hour later. The South Miami Farmers’ Market Year One Report Finances We are happy to report, that we have almost completed the year and have been able to cover all our direct expenses to date and of almost reached the goal of covering our organizational overhead for the Market. HFSF Grant Market Total SMFM Total Income 10,000.00 17,920.00 27,920.00 Expense EBT & EBT Outreach 1,175.92 85.44 1,261.36 Insurance 0.00 914.01 914.01 Marketing 3,798.93 1,045.52 4,844.45 Market Manager 1,042.50 9,418.99 10,461.49 Permits & Fees 0.00 500.59 500.59 Printing & Reproduction 0.00 110.50 110.50 Supplies 3,982.65 620.22 4,602.87 Web 0.00 12.17 12.17 Total Expense 10,000.00 12,707.44 22,707.44 Overhead for Admin Costs 0.00 5,212.56 5,212.56 Total Other Expense 0.00 5,212.56 5,212.56 Net Other Income 0.00 -5,212.56 -5,212.56 Net Income 0.00 0.00 0.00 The even better news is that the Market can be financially sustainable! Not just able to cover our direct costs, but able to begin to cover administrative costs, including staff time and office expenses. What We Can Do Better We are proud of our accomplishments, but need to acknowledge that our first year has been a collective learning. Clearly, there are several things we can do better. We can discover new and better ways to reach out to South Miami Residents (all of them) and the larger area as well. We have invented some new ways of keeping our current vendors satisfied and committed, while enticing and assisting new ones to create the same loyal following that the established ones enjoy at the same time ensure the economic sustainability of the Market. We want to keep creating rich programming for market-goers and the public, including a more formalized series of workshops and musical performances.