At-School Youth Farmers’ Markets: Can Hands-on Experience Purchasing Fruit and Vegetables Grown on BIOAg Farms Influence Valuation of Local Farming and Family Shopping Habits?

Teaching youth about biologically intensive agriculture can drive wider societal support for BIOAg farming and expand equitable access to food from these production systems. This study will investigate how knowledge and consumption of BIOAg food among children (and by extension families) changes in response to youth farmers’ market experiences. We will utilize an innovative SNAP-Ed/agriculture extension collaboration to implement a student farmer’s market at a racially diverse, low-income elementary school. Students will be provided tickets for the market that when redeemed are doubled, mirroring SNAP’s Market Match EBT benefit. Family and youth behavior and knowledge change will be gauged through collection of the tickets at an actual farmers’ market, and evaluations framed as “homework” assignments completed by youth with caregivers. This project leverages the influential school environment that shapes children’s knowledge to increase awareness of and access to fruit and vegetables from biologically intensive, local farms among low-income diverse families.