Metrics and Indicators for Impact (MIFI), a data collection and analysis program spearheaded by UW-Madison professor Alfonso Morales, is excited to be partnering with REAP Food Group this fall under their Farmers Market Promotion Program grant.

Founded in 1997,  REAP is a Wisconsin organization that connects consumers and producers with local communities in order to grow the state’s sustainable food system. In 2002, they created the Farm Fresh Atlas which is a publication of farms, farmers markets, and other food retail businesses  throughout Wisconsin that use sustainable practices and sell food directly to customers. Available in both paper and online versions, people can often find Farm Fresh Atlas copies at their local market or some community spaces, or they can simply visit farmfreshatlas.org and type in their zip code.

Recently, REAP has been awarded a Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) grant from the USDA for its work in developing and expanding new market opportunities for farms and farmers markets. REAP has enlisted the help of MIFI to work with a system of markets within their Atlas, in order to collect data and analyze the economic impact of farmers markets to the state. For the purposes of this project, MIFI and REAP decided to work with markets based in Milwaukee county and parts of Central Wisconsin in Marathon, Waupaca, and Wood County in order to compare farmers markets in urban and rural parts of Wisconsin.

MIFI is able to collect data for over 25 metrics through use of instruments such as visitor count and multiple ways of collecting sales data, including analysis of purchasing mechanisms that include SNAP benefits and other community vouchers, in order to identify how markets contribute both economically and socially to the greater community.

Historically, farmers markets are seen as an important contribution to neighborhoods and cities, bringing together diverse elements of downtown areas and allowing a place for community enterprises to grow and prosper. This is an exciting project for those in the Milwaukee and Central Wisconsin region and will provide valuable information for the market system and everyone involved.