Today we are going to look at the impact of shopping locally at your community farmers’ market on your local economy. Buying local – which includes produce, meats, dairy, baked goods and other home-made products – means that the money you spend stays local. For every $100 spent at a farmers’ market, $62. is spent in the local economy and $99. is spent within the State – with a slight variation in Northern Virginia because about half of the farmers in our markets come from neighboring states. This is real money which according to an economic theory called the “multiplier effect” triples in value to the local economy. This is money that does not end up in Florida or California or a foreign country.
There are farmers who buy everything from seeds to trucks locally and there are producers who hire local help. There are farmers who drive their produce and products no more than 125 miles not just to market but to your table. The entire production and delivery system is locally based and supported. In a study done by Matt Benson and Eric Bendfeldt in 2007, it was determined that if Virginians spent just $10 per week of their food budget on locally-grown Virginia food, that would have a $1.65 billion direct economic impact on the State economy. In what they call the Northern District which includes all of the cities and counties that we call Northern Virginia, the impact would amount to $638 million.
That’s the second thing to think about this week – helping to grow the local economy impacts all of us who run businesses or just support them by shopping. Even George Washington agrees: many years ago our most famous Virginian said, “I know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture.”
Smart Markets Farmers’ Market is located at 8400 Westpark Drive. It runs Sundays from 10am to 2pm with produce, meats, cheese, specialty goods, and made to order food by local food truck vendors. If you haven’t visited, swing by this Sunday.