Social Issue Field Trip Project By Sarah Jones & Rachel Yang
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Topic: Economics
Field Trip: Dane County Farmers’ Market
 Website: http://www.dcfm.org/  excellent resource with tons of information!
 Hours & Locations: Saturdays, Jan. 9th- April 10th from 8am- 12 noon @ the
Madison Senior Center (330 W. Mifflin St.). Saturdays, April 17th- Nov. 6th from
6am- 2pm on the square. Wednesdays, April 21st- Nov. 3rd @ 200 block MLK, Jr.
Blvd. Nov. 13th- Dec. 18th from 7:30am- 12 noon @ Monona Terrace (1 John
Nolen Dr.)
 Contact: Larry Johnson, Market Manager @ (608) 455-1999 or email @
larryj@dcfm.org
 Cost: FREE!
For our social issue field trip, we decided to go to the Farmers’ Market. The Farmers’
Market is an awesome field trip because it’s free, it gets students outdoors and walking
around, it exposes them to Madison tradition, healthy eating, and a multitude of other
Social Studies topics… like economics! The Farmers’ Market is the perfect picture, the
working definition of economy, the central hub of a town’s workings…the ins and outs. It
shows the culture, livelihood, and the social interactions that are
involved in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and
services. Civilization…mankind has been doing this since the
beginning of time itself. Although in today’s time it may not be as
obvious, and students may not think of economics when they think of
the Farmers’ Market, this makes it a great place to go because they
will be able to uncover the economics behind the Farmers’ Market for themselves.
We spent about an hour at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning, just walking
around the Capitol and taking everything in. Pictures helped us capture some of the
things that we both experienced and later reflected upon, especially the things we may
have missed amidst the chaotic adventure. Being the first opening day of 2010 Farmers’
Market, there were many early birds and eager beavers picking through the year’s first
officially “harvest”. One of the things we discovered is that the vendors at the Farmers’
Market are extremely friendly; we approached a few of them with questions, and they
were very receptive to this.
One of things we asked the vendors is who determines the price of goods- is it
determined by the individual vendor or is it regulated by the market? The vendors told us
that they individually decide how to price their goods
based on their cost of production. This explains the
different pricing throughout the market. Some of the
vendors we talked to also discussed how competition
plays into the pricing. They said that many times, vendors
walk around to other booths to scope out prices, so that
they can ensure that they are pricing competitively.
However, we also came across prices that were much
higher while some stayed competitive. Those more
expensive prices are usually due to the buyer requiring
some kind of special service or adding a unique quality to their crop or product. The
questions we asked are ones we would envision students asking vendors and discovering
answers to at their field trip to the Farmers’ Market.
We were also interested to see more expensive prices towards the “beginning” of the
line if people (typically students) enter through the state street access. We wondered if
this is done intentionally or just a pure coincidence. Also, if you are a “novice” to the
farmer’s market, we have one word of advice: Don’t be a fool who buys right away.
Scope through the market, and 9 times out of 10 there will be different and better prices
for those green onions you saw earlier. Be a smart shopper, and ask questions to the
vendors. (is it organic, fair trade (depending on the product), environment
friendly/responsible…) Part of a field trip to the Farmers’ Market might entail asking the
students to do some research- walking around and recording how much a particular fruit
or vegetable costs at each booth where it’s being sold. We informally did this, and
noticed that while there is some variability, most produce was priced similarly. It would
also be interesting to compare Farmers’ Market prices to prices at local grocery stores to
see how different they are.
We cannot forget about the other side of the economics behind the Farmers’
Market- the buyer’s perspective. An essential question we hope that students who embark
on this field trip would be able to address is what are the economic advantages to buying
food that is locally produced? This is something that they could think about on their own,
or even ask people that are buying products at the Farmers’ Market to get their take on it.
Lastly, something to make sure students are thinking about is the greater societal impacthow does the Farmers’ Market impact Madison’s economy?