A brief history of the network
The network began as a series of conversations among Utah farmers markets who wanted to network and learn from each other. In October of 2018, Utah State University (USU) was awarded a Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) grant from the USDA to fund a variety of capacity-building, outreach, and marketing activities to help connect more low-income and ethnically diverse populations to healthy local food at farmers markets. The activities of the grant also provided the necessary support to formalize Utah’s statewide farmers market network.
In late 2022, USU was awarded a second FMPP grant to create a market manager handbook, a marketing campaign, and to gather community and economic impact data.
