A Tale of Two Markets: Part II, Newton County, Arkansas
The Newton County market is held on the courthouse square. |
Beyond these similarities, the differences between the two places are more apparent. Telluride is an extraordinary example of rural gentrification and is so obviously affluent, Newton County is a persistent poverty county, which means it is characterized by entrenched, inter-generational poverty. I provided some socioeconomic data about Telluride and San Miguel County in my last post. Here's some about Newton County: Its poverty rate is 22.5%, and it's median household income is $27,441. Whereas nearly half of San Miguel County residents have a bachelor's degree or greater, only 12.2% of Newton County residents do. Newton County is a Federal/State Government dependent economy, while San Miguel County has a Service-dependent economy.
How is this very different demographic profile reflected in the two places' farmers markets? I already provided lots of information about the Telluride and Mountain Village markets, and at least the former is fairly long standing. The Newton County farmers' market, in contrast, started only this year, with a push from the Newton County Agricultural Extension Office. (I don't even recall much of a tradition of farm stands in Newton County--just neighbors sharing the fruits of their gardens with others). Whereas the San Miguel County markets take place weekly, spring through fall, the Newton County market takes place only on one Friday evening a month, from 4 pm to 6 pm (aiming to catch people passing the courthouse square on their way home from work), with the last market of the season likely to be this week (though in future years it might be in August, absent present doubt conditions). I don't know the cost of participating in the Telluride market, but participation in the Newton County market costs just $5/week, and the Extension Office is considering the option of an annual fee. I'm not sure what participants get for that -- presumably the benefit of a sign announcing the market, which I saw in a newspaper story about it.
While vendors at the Colorado markets were numerous, only five vendors showed up to participate in the Newton County market on the Friday in early July when my mom showed up to take these photos as my proxy. She found four fruit and veg vendors and one craftsman. One of the food vendors had not only fresh produce, but also home-baked goods and jams and relishes for $5 each. That's less than half the $11/jar cost at Mountain Village. Tomatoes were $6/lb in Colorado, but only $2.25 in Newton County (and my mom declared them the best she's ever eaten). The selection wasn't extensive -- certainly none of the kohlrabi featured at the Mountain Village market--but it included some potatoes, peppers, and squash in addition to the items noted above. I suspect most vendors simply brought excess bounty from their own gardens, and that they did not decide what to plant because of the existence of the market. I don't believe any of the vendors are engaged in agritourism, but I suspect those selling jams and relishes don't also market those at the nearby gift shops on Scenic Highway 7 (see the figures below). No one at this market is making a living off the market, which is quite different to what I learned about the Colorado markets.
All of the vendors at the Newton County market were from within the county, population 8,264. I suppose it is not a sufficiently attractive market in terms of income potential to draw vendors from a wider area. And I suspect most if not all vendors brought excess bounty from their own gardens, that they had not decided what to plant because of the existence of the market. I don't believe any of the vendors are engaged in agritourism, but I'd be surprised if those selling jams and relishes don't also market those at the nearby gift shops on Scenic Highway 7. Unlike in Telluride, none of the vendors had signs or brochures indicating their names or that of their farm; certainly, these Newton County farmers had not invested as much as the Telluride vendors in display aesthetics.
I recently came across U.S. Government data on some of the very questions I was addressing. Here's the county-to-county comparison on a range of agricultural data points, from the Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America:
- Principal Operator 10 years or more on same parcel: San Miguel County, 87; Newton County, 439
- Principal Operator 2 years or less on same parcel: San Miguel County, 1; Newton County, 35.
- Number of farms: San Miguel County, 123; Newton County, 636.
- Percentage of land being farmed: San Miguel County, 18.3%; Newton County, 21.5%.
- Average market value of product sold: San Miguel County, $27,235; Newton County $29,907.
- Percentage of farms with sales below $10K in 2007: San Miguel County, 71%; Newton County, 68%.
- Average government payment 2007: San Miguel County, $9230; Newton County, $1756.
- Percentage of farms with income from agritourism: San Miguel County, 4.87%; Newton County, 0.47%.
- Percentage of farms engaged in value-added production: San Miguel County, 8.9%; Newton County, 5.3%.
- Percentage of farms using CSA: San Miguel County, 1.62%; Newton County, 0.
- Percentage of farms with high speed internet: San Miguel County, 48%; Newton County, 24%.
- Percentage of operators working off farm: San Miguel County, 38%; Newton County, 46%.
- Percentage of farms with woman operator: San Miguel County, 18%; Newton County, 14%.
I acknowledge that this county-to-county comparison is a bit misleading about the markets because, as acknowledged in my earlier post, food at the Telluride area markets actually comes from many neighboring counties, not only from San Miguel County. Nevertheless, I find it an interesting comparison.
Note the small market, and the wooden chairs for sale by one vendor. |
Cross-posted to Legal Ruralism.
Labels: agritourism, farmers markets, food, local food, persistent poverty, rural poverty, the south
1 Comments:
I found your comparison very interesting. As along time resident and past Farmer's Vendor, I was somewhat surprised by a few of your comments.
Over the years, Newton County has had a long standing Farmer's Market- I participated for a number of years. We had 12-15 vendors, including two large organic farmer's based in our area. We also had 16 acres in organic herbs and sold to five local restaurants as well as three area farmer's markets. While not our sole source of income, the local Market helped build our business tremendously.I hope you will reassess your comments , in that respect.
Unfortunately, many of our vendors were aging, and there was also difficulty with the location- the gentleman who had allowed us to use his property needed it for flea market booths.
We attempted to get a new market location going, but meet some difficulty in deciding where it should be. Some of this was due to competing businessman. Thanks to Penny Taylor's efforts it is now up and running again and is gaining in customer base.
I am glad to see outside interest in the Market.
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