Tent Talk

In this week's episode we tackle another round of tough questions sent in from our market manager listeners. Listen along for sage advice from our resident market manager experts. We cover complex issues like booking market musicians, rearranging vendors when your market site is under construction, and what to do about Yelp reviews.

On this week's episode of Tent Talk we made good use of our own expertise and answered some tricky farmers' market questions we received from vendors. In this episode you'll get advice from the Tent Talk hosts on various issues that vendors face. Listen along for tips on sampling your product, incentivizing employees to increase their sales numbers, and what makes a good farmers' market business name.

This week on Tent Talk we are joined by Candread Gadaga, farmers market vendor and farmers market musician! On this episode Candread tells us about his journey from playing music at the market to starting his own hot food vendor business to packaging his own sauces for sale.

This week on Tent Talk our guest is Lisa Kivirist, farmer, advocate for women in sustainable agriculture, and author of Soil Sisters: A Toolkit for Women Farmers. In this episode Lisa shares her passion for cottage food law, how the community of female farmers is growing, and why she loves going to conferences.

This week on Tent Talk we are joined by Dr. Gail Myers, Agri-Cultural Anthropologist and co-founder of Farms to Grow, Inc. Over the last 15 years Dr. Myers has been busy lecturing, researching, teaching, writing and documenting stories of African American farmers, sharecroppers, and gardeners. In our interview we chat about the inspiration for Farms to Grow Inc., what it takes to run a community farmers market with a mission, and the importance of studying the history of food systems.

Our guest this week is Joe Hargrave, founder and CEO of Tacolicious. What started as a pop-up taco stand, then became a mainstay at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco is now a 6 location enterprise across the Bay Area. In our interview with Joe he tells us about the bumpy road that led him to tacos and why Tacolicious will always have a booth at that the farmers market. If you're a farmers market vendor dreaming of one day opening your own brick-and-mortar, this episode is for you!

For our first Tent Talk episode of the new year, we welcomed Ross Graham of Food Liability Insurance Program to the show. Ross is a licensed insurance agent and strategic partnership manager focused on helping businesses find the coverage they need at an affordable price. In or conversation with Ross we talk about all things risk management at the farmers market and how to protect vendors and market managers.

Our guest this week is Sagdrina Jalal, founding Executive Director of the Georgia Farmers Market Association. Sagdrina works hard to provide support and education for farmers market managers in Georgia and across the country as a member of the board of directors of the Farmers Market Coalition. In our conversation with Sagdrina we discuss the pros of participating in a farmers market association, some of the challenges market managers face, and the importance of education for farmers market managers and vendors.

Our guest this week is community activist and farmer Karen Washington. She has spent decades promoting urban farming as a way for all New Yorkers to access fresh, locally grown food. In our interview we chat with Karen about how community activism got her interested in farming, how Rise & Root found their product niche for the farmers market, and her hopes for the next generation of farmers. Listen all the way to the end for Karen's insightful advice on getting young people interested in agriculture!

This week on Tent Talk we are joined by Food Cost & Strategic Sourcing Consultant, Sarah Delevan. Sarah works with food makers, restaurants, caterers, and retail markets throughout the US to help them become and remain financially sustainable. In this episode Sarah provides tips on sourcing quality ingredients, shares keys to understanding your food financials, and identifies mistakes food-driven businesses can avoid.