Welcome back to Tent Talk, it's been a minute! Be sure to stay with us until the end for an important announcement. Listen in to hear what's been happening at Farmers Market Pros and the rest of our community, what's coming in the next season of Tent Talk, the farmers market podcast, and new offerings at our Farmers Market Forum platform.

Our theme for this season of Tent Talk is Survive and Thrive and boy does it feel relevant now more than ever. Between nearly a million government workers currently on furlough and 40 million people going without access to SNAP benefits, our customers, our farmers, and our communities are staring down the neck of truly dark and difficult times.That’s why we’re reaching into our toolkit and pulling out a word that guided us through the pandemic: PIVOT.

Every year the last quarter never fails to creep up on us and 2025 is no exception. As we reflect on the year and look ahead at what’s to come, everywhere we turn we’re haunted by budgets. How can we continue to ensure that our market business is turning a profit? How can we create a safety net so in times of stress we’re still financially secure? The answer is simple: sponsors! 

Uncertainty often breeds innovation and periods of economic instability are no exception. Job insecurity can be the tipping point to that pushes makers to think outside the box and embrace the adventure of farmers market entrepreneurship. Suddenly there’s space to turn that recipe into a money making reality.

Farmers Markets offer food founders the chance to capture high margin sales, but it only matters if you know how to make them profitable.  In this episode, Sarah Delevan sits down with Catt Fields-White, nationally recognized farmers market expert and founder of the InTents National Farmers Market Conference, to answer real questions from Good Food CFO listeners about maximizing farmers market revenue.

In this episode of our Survive & Thrive series, we’re going back to the basics when it comes to maintaining a financially stable market. While grant funding feels unstable and uncontrollable, when your passion meets profit, you’re prepared to weather even the most unpredictable of storms. A strong P&L around the core function of supporting farmers and incubating small businesses is almost like tent weights for your market operation. 

When your job is weird, it’s easy to feel isolated. Who do you ask for help when all of your friends work desk jobs? How do you advocate for the importance of markets in your community when you’re a team of one? Where do you go to brainstorm city specific issues? Well the solution just might be in your own backyard.

In this episode of our Survive & Thrive series, we’re speaking with Dana DiPrima. She's built the For Farmers Movement on consumer education and thousands and thousands of small donations. Her organization's simple grant application creates solutions for one challenge at a time and ensures small farms can keep farming.

Tent Talk has returned with a new series, Survive & Thrive! Before we dive deep into our scheduled content, we’re sharing a quick preview of this season and a few reminders.

The leaves aren’t the only thing changing this fall! We’re shaking things up with an adjusted schedule, a fresh new Tent Talk season, and an updated interactive platform. In our upcoming series, Survive & Thrive, we’re focusing on how to operate a successful market business during unprecedented times.

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