Data Sources & Methodology

Primary source

All 7,056 farmers markets in our directory come from the USDA Local Food Portal, a free public dataset maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service.

How we use it

We pull two USDA endpoints and merge them:

• Bulk directory download — gives us the complete universe of markets, plus rich attribute data (SNAP/EBT acceptance, accepted payment methods, organic certification status, on-site offerings).
• Live API — overlays per-market contact info, social media URLs, season descriptions, and product lists.

Where both sources have the same field, the live API wins because it's typically fresher. About 80% of markets in our directory have full live enrichment.

Refresh cadence

The directory rebuilds from the USDA's data on a weekly schedule. Individual market profiles update when the USDA refreshes them — which can range from monthly to years, depending on how often the local market manager submits updates to USDA.

What this means for you

Addresses and locations are reliable — once a market registers with USDA, its location rarely changes. Lat/lng coordinates are sourced from USDA directly.

Hours and seasonal dates can drift. Many markets update their USDA listing infrequently. Before planning a trip, we recommend calling ahead or checking the market's own website (when available) for current operating hours.

SNAP/EBT acceptance is generally stable. Markets that participate tend to maintain it; markets that don't rarely add it without promoting the change.

Field coverage statistics

Below is the per-field coverage across our 7,056 markets as of the last directory rebuild (June 3, 2026). These numbers reflect the USDA dataset itself, not enrichment we add.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to the USDA AMS team for maintaining the Local Food Portal and exposing it as public data. The market directory is a public-good resource for U.S. food access; we're glad to help surface it.