Farmer’s markets play an important role in our food ecosystem. Miriam Haas has been tinkering with the model of the Farmer’s market for more than 25 years. There’s so much to love about Miriam and the story of Down to Earth Markets. We talked about Farmer’s Markets as a tool for economic development, especially in abandoned town centers. Miriam refers to farmer’s markets as local community-scale businesses that sell neighbor to neighbor. We talked about local produce as an alternative to the industrialization of our food. We talked about eating clean, local and organic. I also found it interesting that Down to Earth Markets has found a way to scale the local farmer’s market model, while being recognized as a “Best for the World” company by B-Lab, the certifying body for B Corporations. Down to Earth Farmers Markets manages fifteen farmers markets in and around New York City. The company was founded in 1991 as Community Markets and rebranded in 2012 as Down to Earth Farmer’s Markets. Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Miriam Haas “I wanted to create a sense of community.” “It is an economic development tool.” “It took me four years to locate an organic farmer who would come to the market. That farmer is in his twenty-third year with us.” “I bootstrapped through a Friend of the Market program.” “I was very passionate about doing this work.” “You have to have a passion about an idea.” “If someone says your idea is absurd or discourages you, that’s the thing that should actually activate you.” Social Entrepreneurship Resources: Down to Earth Markets: http://www.downtoearthmarkets.com Culture Shift Learning Academy waiting list: http://tonyloyd.com/assessment Culture Shift Learning Academy We’re moving closer to the launch of Culture Shift Learning Academy, a comprehensive system to help you flesh out your social impact idea and start achieving it. Enrollment isn’t open yet, but you can join the waiting list with other changemakers. Just go to http://tonyloyd.com/assessment and enter your email address. As a thank you, I’ll send you the Social Entrepreneur Startup Readiness Assessment. This useful tool is designed to help you to determine where you are on your startup journey and to successfully focus your development efforts.

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