Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Farmers Markets and Their Regional Farms in Philadelphia, PA

Abstract

Local food systems often reflect the larger food system’s dependency on farms to create a sustainable system. Understanding the distance traveled by farms to farmers markets is important to understanding how the local food system has shaped areas like Philadelphia. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the relationship between the regional farms and urban farmers markets in Philadelphia. This study focuses on the spatial distribution of urban farmers markets, regional farm suppliers, the distance regional farms have traveled, and how that has changed between 2009 and 2019. A 2009 dataset was used as a baseline and was updated over the summer and fall of 2019. The distances between farms and farmers markets were calculated using proximity tools in ArcGIS. These distances were placed into categories based on farm products sold like fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein, oils/sweets, and miscellaneous. Results show there has been a change in distance traveled by farms to farmers markets. However, there is no direct connection between farm products and mileage. The study has contributed to a greater understanding of the local food system structure in Philadelphia and how farm travel has changed over the past decade.