Public health potential of farmers' markets on medical center campuses: a case study from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Abstract

There are currently 7175 farmers' markets in the United States, and these organizations are increasingly viewed as one facet of the solution to national health problems. There has been a recent trend toward establishing markets on medical center campuses, and such partnerships can augment a medical center's ability to serve community health. However, to our knowledge no studies have described the emergence of a market at a medical center, the barriers and challenges such an initiative has faced, or the nature of programming it may foster. We provide a qualitative description of the process of starting a seasonal, once-a-week, producers-only market at the Pennsylvania State Hershey Medical Center, and we call for greater public health attention to these emerging community spaces.