Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market contributes over $1 million to the local economy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 19, 2011

Contact:
Jennifer Kelley
(216) 526-3803
jenny@kelleygreenweb.com

Darlene Wolnik
(504) 861-4485,
darlene@marketumbrella.org

Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market contributes

over $1 million to the local economy

marketumbrella.org preliminary findings from economic impact

study on the Cleveland farmers market

On Sunday, January 8th at 3853 West 168th Street, fresh food will change hands for cash as it does indoors the second Sunday of Each month November through May and outdoors every Sunday June – October since the Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market opened in 2007. On this particular Sunday the organizers will share preliminary economic impact findings prepared by nationally renowned public market think tank, marketumbrella.org, with the release of their 2011 Economic Impact Study.

According to the report, the Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market operates twenty nine Sundays a year with a combined economic impact of $1,111,224.25 upon its vendors, host neighborhoods, and surrounding region. The report is generated by SEED (a web application) developed by the New Orleans-based public market organization, marketumbrella.org, to capture what Executive Director Richard McCarthy describes as “an often surprising if not furtive economic impact of the original business incubator, the farmers market.”

The numbers appear to support this claim: The Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market attracts 16,370 visits from shoppers over a year. This results in gross combined receipts of $ 283,969.24. SEED also reports that 44% of Market shoppers spend money at nearby businesses resulting in $252,854.07 in projected gross receipts and an annual contribution of $18,964.05 to local sales tax revenue.

"When Kamm's Corners Development, along with an enthusiastic group of founding volunteers, opened the market in 2007, part of the reason was to realize the economic spin-off to benefit new and existing businesses. We never dreamed of a million dollar impact, or the "town square" image the market has attained. And let's certainly not forget the many benefits of fresh and local food for the residents of the neighborhood, said Steve Lorenz, Executive Director of Kamm's Corners Development."

USDA invests in farmers markets as institutions with a triple bottom-line of impacts upon communities – financial, human, and social — via several programs. These investments appear to be bearing fruit: USDA reports that as of 2010 there are 6,132 farmers markets operating in the USA — as compared to 1,775 in 1994.

Working with philanthropic support, marketumbrella.org is developing a trio of tools to measure these impacts for a growing field of markets. Its first tool — SEED — utilizes the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ RIMS II economic multiplier methodology. It is a free, online measurement tool that has been used by over 100 markets throughout the USA. Here in Cleveland, two additional Growhio Farmers Markets, Coit Road Farmers Market and Tremont Farmers Market also took part in the survey.

marketumbrella.org is a 501[c]3 nongovernmental organization based in New Orleans but operates globally to cultivate the field of public markets for public good. The SEED economic evaluation tool can be found online at marketumbrella.org.

The Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market is free and open to the public outdoors every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the second Sunday in June through the second Sunday in October and indoors the second Sunday of each month November through May. For more information about the Market visit online at www.kammscornersfarmersmarket.org.

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Brown Introduces Bill to Expand Markets for Farmers and Increase Access to Local Foods

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011

Contacts:

Meghan Dubyak/Lauren Kulik (Brown) 202-224-3978

Willy Ritch (Pingree) 207-841-8400

BROWN INTRODUCES BILL TO EXPAND MARKETS FOR FARMERS AND INCREASE ACCESS TO LOCAL FOODS

Legislation Would Boost Ohio’s Rural Economy, Improve Consumer Access to Healthy, Fresh Foods

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced legislation today to support family farms, expand farming businesses, create rural jobs, and invest in local and regional food economies. The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act is a comprehensive package of reforms that would help Ohio farmers and ranchers by addressing production, aggregation, marketing and distribution needs.  The bill would also prioritize consumer access to healthy, fresh food with support for technology and direct sales.

“Linking Ohio producers with Ohio consumers is common sense. By increasing access to fresh, local foods, we can expand markets for Ohio’s agricultural producers while creating jobs and strengthening our economy,” Brown said.

“Making it easier for farmers to sell food locally and easier for consumers to buy it translates directly into a more healthy economy and more jobs in our communities,” Pingree said.  “Consumers want to be able to buy fresh, healthy food that doesn’t have to travel half way around the world to get to them, we just need to create a farm policy in this country that makes it easier for them to do that.”

Right now, for each dollar that consumers spend on food, less than $0.16 goes back to the farmer. Supporting opportunities for farmers to sell their products directly to consumers or through shorter local supply chains means that more of a consumers’ dollar stays on the farm, where it is invested in local jobs and supplies and helps the local economy.

A recent study shows that if northeast Ohio’s residents and businesses spent 25 percent of their food dollars on local farms and businesses, 27,500 new jobs could be created while increasing economic output by $4.2 billion and generating $126 million in local and state taxes. 

The Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act includes provisions that would:

• Improve crop insurance products available to small and diversified family farms.
• Eliminate existing penalties for production of fruits and vegetables on land previously dedicated to row-crops.
• Invest in critical infrastructure that would enable farmers and food-businesses to aggregate, store and distribute their products.
• Increase food safety training and technical assistance resources for small and mid-sized farming operations as well as to small slaughterhouses.
• Reduce barriers to institutional purchasing, better linking Ohio farms with Ohio schools, hospitals, and other institutions.
• Enable SNAP recipients to purchase fresh, Ohio-grown food by helping farmers and direct sales markets acquire the technology necessary to accept electronic benefits.

A summary of the bill can be found here.

Senate cosponsors of the bill include Sens. Robert P. Casey (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), and Jon Tester (D-MT). House cosponsors include U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (OR-3), David Cicilline (RI-1), Joe Courtney (CT-2), Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Keith Ellison (MN-5), Raul M. Grijalva (AZ-7), Janice Hahn (CA-36), Brian Higgins (NY-27), Rush Holt (NJ-12), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Ron Kind (WI-3), Dennis J. Kucinich (OH-10), Barbara Lee (CA-9), Ben Ray Lujan (NM-3), Ed Markey (MA-7), Jim McGovern (MA-3), Mike Michaud (ME-20), Gwen Moore (WI-4), Jim Moran (VA-8), Jerrold Nadler (NY-8), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-at large), John W. Olver (MA-1), Laura Richardson (CA-37), Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP) Northern Mariana Islands, Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Louise M. Slaughter (NY-28), Peter Welch (VT- at large), and Lynn Woolsey (CA-6).

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