More Than Fresh Fruits and Veggies: Farmers' Markets As a Locus of Social Participation for Older Adults

Background and Purpose: Social participation promotes healthy aging by buffering the negative effects of social isolation and loneliness on physical, mental, and cognitive health. As awareness of the benefits of social participation for older adults has grown, ideas for how social services agencies can increase older adults’ social participation have proliferated. Yet the contexts of social participation that promote healthy aging have been understudied.

This study fills the gap in the literature on contexts of older adults’ social participation by focusing on the roles of a farmers’ market. Farmers’ markets, where community people and volunteers from social service agencies gather regularly, provide a natural context for social participation. This research explores how older adults experience the farmers’ market as a hub of social participation in a rural Southern community where population aging is more rapid than urban areas.

Method: This research was conducted in collaboration with the director of the Community Farmers’ Market as a research deliverable for a community-engaged course in an MSW program. Participants, who are 60 years old or older and who have regularly visited the Community Farmers’ Market, were recruited at the Market and in lower-resource neighborhoods in order to highlight and delve into their firsthand experiences related to social participation at the Market.

A total of 15 older adults participated in individual, audio-recorded semi-structured interviews, which lasted 15-60 minutes. Ten participants (66.7%) were females; six identified as Black. During the interviews, participants were prompted to describe their experiences at the Market, including their social network. Through repeated reading of the transcribed interviews, emic codes were induced using analytic induction techniques. All interviews were coded by two researchers, which was revised based on critiques by the third researcher. The theme of social participation emerged from the interviews.

Findings: Most participants described the farmers’ market as an important context for their social participation. They enjoyed the family-like environment, expanded their social network with other patrons, vendors and volunteers, and received physical, emotional, and financial support including Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program vouchers. Some described civic engagement and their contribution to the community through the Farmers’ Market, including as volunteers. Yet barriers to their participation existed, such as transportation issues. Further, by being a regular Farmers’ Market patron, they enjoyed supporting local farmers and giving back to community. Some even mentioned that Farmers’ Market is a place for transmitting culture/tradition by being with others of younger generations. Overall, findings suggested that the Farmers’ Market in this rural locale provides personal, environmental, and sociocultural contexts for social participation of older adults.

Conclusion and Implications: Findings highlight the significance of the Farmers’ Market that goes beyond encouraging fresh fruits and vegetables consumption. Implications include further exploration into the potential for farmers’ markets as a context for increasing social participation of rural older adults. In particular, future research should explore the perceptions of social service professionals regarding this connection and the potential for social service agencies to harness the reciprocal nature of the relationship between market and older patrons.