Here are some tips for running a student farmers market from an article titled Starting A School Farmers Market from Kids Gardening:
- Start Small Start small and slow by just selling school produce at first. See how the community and students react to a project and respond to responsibilities before expanding the size or bringing in food from local growers. Bringing in local farm goods can have real educational benefits and helps the market look full and appealing, but to get to that level you’ll likely need committed support from a group of parents or outside organization.
- Get Support It’s crucial to get support from two school entities: the principal and the grounds and facilities people. “We find that principals support this kind of project when they see it as an opportunity for community involvement and health benefits,” says Andrew. “If they’re on board, they will help promote the program and find time to fit in the schedule. Build trust over time; once they see that this is a long-term commitment, they will be supportive.”
- Find Funding Consider these sources of funding for a school- or district-wide farm stand project: Parent-teacher organizations, health departments and health foundations, hospitals interested in healthy living strategies, local Slow Food programs, urban gardening programs, local school foundations, State Department of Agriculture grants (including grants designed to look at new markets for local produce).
- Recruit for Farm Stand Duty Each year, Andrew enlists one class of students – typically from grades three to five – to be the farm stand proprietors. He pitches the concept to receptive teachers as a special class project that involves hard work, responsibility, and critical thinking, one that is rife with opportunities to learn and build important life skills. In the fall, the budding entrepreneurs discuss logistics and students make posters to plug their produce. They hang these around school and in neighborhood stores and churches.
- Market Day Logistics At the market Andrew managed participating students by splitting them into four teams with 6 or so students on each. Each week for at least two months during the growing season, students from one team don their sales hats and run the weekly event. Just before classes let out, half the group goes out to the garden to pick what’s ripe and the other half sets up tables and fill display baskets with the harvest. A couple of parents usually help set up and supervise the youngsters. In the end, everyone has a chance to do each task.
- Incorporate Math Lessons To help give kids practice in doing math in their heads, which Andrew feels is an important skill, all products are priced to the quarter or dollar. Youngsters also keep track of the weight of all the produce sold and mark down each transaction and the total charge for it.
- Conduct an End of the Season Assessment At the end of the season, Andrew’s students calculate their profit and adjust what they’ll plant the following season. The numbers can also help pique the interest of potential funders. “When the kids see their profits – along with grant funds – being invested to enhance the program, they feel even more like it’s a project worth doing,” says Andrew. Arna also recommends securing funding beyond profits made from sales. “We couldn’t have run this as a self-supporting business because we wanted to keep prices low so we could put good, low cost food on people’s table.”
For more information and tips for managing your school garden, check out our Monthly School Garden Checklist on our Managing Your School Garden resource page. Organized by month, each section provides a checklist for planning and tasks needed to be done on a seasonal basis for success in a school garden.
