Shop Farmer Saturday
November 21
The Saturday Immediately Before Thanksgiving
About Shop Farmer Saturday
Established by Red Acre Center in 2024, Shop Farmer Saturday falls on the Saturday right before Thanksgiving, when many farms and markets are holding their final or near-final market of the season before spring. As people prepare their holiday meals, it's an important opportunity to invest in the farmers, ranchers, bakers, and food makers in our communities. For farms who sell directly to eaters, holiday sales make up a significant portion of their seasonal income, making this potentially one of the biggest sales days of the year.
The Purpose
While "Shop Small Saturday" supports general retail businesses, it often bypasses local growers. Shop Farmer Saturday encourages consumers to buy real, locally grown food and ingredients directly from farmers for their holiday meals.
If you want to continue to see farmers who choose to sell directly to you and Farmers Markets that extend past the corn and tomato season or even go for winter or full-blown year-round, they MUST and NEED to be supported!
Thanksgiving brings people together around the table, and where we spend our food dollars can help sustain the people growing and making food close to home.
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How to Get Involved
Farmers Markets, Farmers, Ranchers, Farmstands, and Local Producers
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Use the Social Media packet below to promote Shop Farmer Saturday and encourage other producers in your community to do the same.
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Share information about market dates, seasonal availability, preorder deadlines, and holiday offerings on newsletters, social media and other outlets.
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Encourage markets and producers to make the day a priority in their seasonal outreach. This could be your biggest market of the year!
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Invite customers to shop directly and share the campaign with their communities. (See Eaters and Community Members Section Below).
Eaters and Community Members
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Visit a local farmstand, on-farm market, or community farmers market. Buy produce, meat, eggs, bread, pies, and pantry staples for Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving.
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Check whether farms are accepting preorders or offering holiday-specific products.
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Some farms make value-added items in their kitchens under a bill that we passed, the Homemade Home Food Consumption Act (HB 181), Which allows you to make items in your home kitchen without burdensome regulations and licenses.
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If they've already put in the commercial kitchen, might as well help them make it worth the investment!
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Do something radical and convince a friend to do the same: eat a local Thanksgiving made from scratch (you'll have to forgo the box stuffing, but you could pick up a loaf of sourdough, onions, garlic and celery - punpkings for a pie. Oh, and the free turkey with a purchase is also OFF the list.
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Share a post about Shop Farmer Saturday on your Social Media and tag @redacrecenterut
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Follow up with a photo of your Thanksgiving meal and tag your local producers your sourced from!
Businesses, Organizations, and Community Partners
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Use the Social Media Packet and spread the word through newsletters, websites, and social media.
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Encourage members, customers, and community networks to shop directly from local food producers.
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Share the campaign resources with local farms and markets.
Social Media Packet
