The report, titled Social and Economic Dimensions of Farmers Markets in Australia, included in Australian Food Statistics 2010-2011 is based on a 2011 survey of farmers' market managers by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) with the support of the Australian Farmers' Markets Association (AFMA).
The key findings include: 97 per cent of market managers reported long-term sustainability of their markets; market numbers have more than doubled between 2004 and 2011 to 150-plus nationally; 69 per cent of all markets surveyed reported increased stallholder numbers; 64 per cent of all markets surveyed reported increased shopper numbers; and 43 per cent of markets trade weekly, 13 per cent fortnightly, and 44 per cent monthly.
Farmers markets - along with other alternative fresh food markets - are estimated to represent seven per cent of all fresh food sales (McKinna 2011).
The survey of 72 market managers is the first substantive national research undertaken on both the economic and social dimensions of the vibrant farmers' market movement.
AFMA spokesperson Jane Adams said: "These findings highlight the fact that farmers' markets have become a vital and permanent link in Australia's food chain.
"Direct paddock-to-plate and lower food-mile shopping is without doubt one of the most significant changes in the past decade in our national foodscape."
Australia's farmers' markets have seen steady and sustainable growth since the first market commenced trading in Victoria in 1999.
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