A recent study has found that the South Cariboo Farmers’ Market has a positive impact on neighbouring businesses in 100 Mile House.
The 2023 BC Farmers’ Market Economic Impact Study was recently released - which measured the economic impact of farmers markets all across British Columbia in 2023. The study was run by the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets (BCAFM) and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Similar projects were conducted in 2012 and 2006.
The study found that the South Cariboo Farmers’ Market’s impact on the local economy was around $699,000, with annual direct sales were $466,000. Neighboring businesses reported in interviews conducted by the study that 45 per cent believe the farmers market has had a positive effect on the community, with 25 per cent saying it was very positive.
Kelsey Fast, the board treasurer for the South Cariboo Farmers’ Market, and Sophia Jackson, the board’s secretary, both reacted positively to the findings of the study.
“Fairly excited, I would say, because it clearly indicates the enthusiasm that the people have for the market in 100 Mile,” said Jackson.
“This is a really useful window into what we provide for,” concurred Fast.
READ MORE: Economic impact of South Cariboo Farmers’ Market assessed
Both are also excited about the credit that businesses are giving to the farmers’ market in the study.
“I was really happy to hear that because I know we were, in the previous season, kind of out of the downtown scene (at the South Cariboo Rec Centre). So to know that us moving in, that they’re in favour of that and that we are kind of a benefit to them or something positive, I was pleased to see that for sure,” Fast said.
The study concluded that BC farmers’ markets have grown over the past decade despite several challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We always knew we had a good amount of traffic and that we were a well-attended and well loved market. But this just gives us the data to (back that up),” Jackson noted.
The South Cariboo Farmers’ Market season runs between May and September every Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the 100 Mile Community Hall on Birch Avenue. The 2024 season is set to begin on May 10 this year.
