Tent Talk, the farmers market podcast
Whether you’re a farmers market manager, a farmer or food maker selling at farmers markets, a policy maker or market supplier, Tent Talk is the podcast for you!
How to listen to Tent Talk
Stream our most recent episodes below or find Tent Talk wherever you regularly get your podcasts. With a new episode every Monday, Tent Talk brings you new farmers market knowledge on a weekly basis. There is so much that goes into farmers markets, and so many interesting people involved, we will never run out of material!
Search by keyword, topic or guest to find the episode you’re looking for!
Episode 312: 4th Quarter Team Work
The fourth quarter rolls around every year, but somehow we often forget what to do to prepare for it. Listen in as we chat about moving past the September slump. We're looking forward and making plans to make the upcoming season more productive and less stressful. How are you getting ahead of things?
Episode 311: Every Week or Once a Year : Patricia and Brett Keller on Event Management Skills
Managing a farmers market is just like managing a craft fair or fall festival, right? Yes. And no. There are similarities and there are big differences between coordinating vendors on a weekly basis and once a year. When experienced annual event managers Patricia and Brett Keller took over a local farmers market after the sudden departure of its founding manager, they learned a few things.
Episode 310: Transforming Communities: The Power and Potential of Farmers Markets with Catt Fields-White
This week we're sharing something a little bit different: a podcast episode where Catt Fields White is the featured guest. Enjoy this conversation from the Fresh Taste podcast about the importance of supporting local farmers, small businesses and of course farmers' markets.
Episode 309: Giving Away the Farm: Market Discounts and Donations
Market participants are a generous bunch, so how do you make sure your farmers and vendors don't give away the farm, so to speak? Keeping your heart and your business mind aligned is important to keep your whole market family financially healthy.
Episode 308: Ashley Colpaart: Prepping Partnership: Farmers Markets and Shared Kitchens
When The Food Corridor offered a Shared Kitchen-101 workshop at the 2023 InTents Conference, it was a sell out. It's no wonder. In a survey of food businesses operating out of shared kitchens, farmers markets were the most commonly used sales channels, with over 50% responding that they sell at one or more farmers markets.
Episode 307: Jimmy DeBiasi: Harvesting Maine's Bumper Crop
Selling farmers market gift certificates are a great way to help dedicated customers introduce friends, relatives and associates to the world of fresher food and local community. Now kick that idea up 350,000 notches.
Episode 306: Free Speech at Farmers Markets with Wendy Chen and Lihlani Nelson
With election season upon us, managing free speech issues at farmers markets is top of mind. This week we're chatting with Wendy Chen, of the Center for Agricultural and Food Systems at Vermont Law School for a quick update on court decisions that might affect how you manage free speech at your market. And we're spotlighting an episode originally broadcast in 2021, with Lihlani Nelson, also of Vermont Law School, home of the Farmers market Legal Toolkit.
Episode 305: Farmers Market Week Update
We know you're busy this week. Us too! Catt's on the road speaking at conferences and visiting Midwest markets. Brijet's rocking National Farmers Market Week in San Diego. You're doing the same, right? So take just a minute and tune in while we chat with Erica Meadows of the Mt Washington Farmers Market in Kentucky, and our friend Sagdrina.
Episode 304: Ask the Pros!
We have a mixed bag of topics in this month's Ask the Pros episode. With hot weather advisories, fires and floods becoming more common, we've been getting a lot of questions about when closing a market is justified. Weather or not, farmers need to move their produce so it's not a decision managers take lightly.
Episode 303: Report from Rome: World Farmers Market Coaliton
Join us for a report from Catt's trip to the World Farmers Market Coalition's second General Assembly, in Rome, Italy this month. Delegates from some 70 countries and organizations gathered, representing hundreds of farmers markets and policy making bodies.
Episode 301: Wendy Chen: Volunteering to Keep it Legal
Volunteers are the lifeblood of many farmers markets and we know that even market managers are sometimes labeled as volunteers. That labor of love is admirable. Is it legal? That depends, and it's complicated. Wendy Chen stopped in to discuss the answers to these questions and more.
Episode 300: Celebrating 300 Episodes of Tent Talk
It's hard to believe that we've produced 300 episodes of Tent Talk, the farmers market podcast, since we started almost five years ago. You'd think we might run out of things to talk about, but nope! There are so many ideas to explore, questions to ponder, and issues to delve into.
Episode 299: Market Interns: Eat, Work, Learn!
Call it internship, apprenticeship or learning by doing, it's all about training the next generation of farmers, foodmakers and market managers on the job. On this week's episode we talk about how interns can help your market and ways to make those programs beneficial for both sides.
Episode 298: Nino Budabin McQuown: National Farmers Market Week Prep
It's the 25th anniversary of National Farmers Market Week. Get ready to get ready with the Farmers Market Coalition Toolkit, it's available now. Join us as we chat with Nino Budabin McQuown of FMC about all the best ways to use the week to raise your farmers markets' profile.
Episode 297: Sagdrina Brown Jalal: Juneteenth is Just a Beginning
Juneteenth is coming up, are you ready? We discuss simple ways to make your farmers market more inclusive, keeping the momentum going as Black Business Month and National Farmers Market Week intersect, and more!
Episode 296: Vendor Story: Not Your Nonna's Sauce Co.
We love a good vendor story almost as much as we love Not Your Nonna's nut-free pesto, full of locally grown basil. Adrianna Zizzo operates her pasta sauce business in six farmers markets a week. Her fledgling business weathered pandemic protocols shortly after she launched. This summer her business is celebrating its five year anniversary. Devoted to using locally grown ingredients and no preservatives, Adrianna has built a devoted customer base and an extended market family.
Episode 295: David Thayer: America's Farmers Market Celebration 2024
It's a celebration, it's a contest, it's two exciting things at once and it kicks off this coming weekend. American Farmland Trust has operated America's Farmers Market Celebration for 16 years now. It offers a great chance to make your market more visible and engage your shoppers. The cash prizes are an added bonus. This year's contest is shorter and maybe a little sweeter than last year's, with some new rules in place.
Episode 294: Welcome Back to Tent Talk
We’re baaaaack! Did you miss us? After our short recording hiatus, listen in to find out where we’ve been and where we’re growing next.🌱 It’s been a busy spring, and we’ve got a lot cookin’ over here.
Episode 293: Brent Preston: Farming for Good
The work you do farming, or bringing small farmers and shoppers together, is vitally important. Brent Prestion spoke at InTents: The Farmers Market Conference 2019 about his time as an organic farmer, the effects of farming on the environment and how farmers and consumers can change those.
Episode 287: Welcome to the Info Booth
Your Info or Welcome Booth is your market home away from home. It's often the place that shoppers and farmers and vendors find your team, where you sell fun merchandise, and where you process SNAP EBT transactions. All the things that apply to making farmers' and vendors' booths effective apply here too.