Why a Farmers' Market?

Allowing students to learn mathematics through the land is one approach to engaging students with issues and content that are relevant to their community and local environment. In this sense, a farmers’ market provides opportunities for students to explore “genuine mathematics” (Mokros and Atkinson, 2018) and can support healthy communities (Balkrishna et al., 2014). Farmers' markets provide hands-on learning opportunities that integrate students’ prior experiences and develop individualized learning based on their experiential outlook (Reeve et al., 2014). Concepts from understanding the land, planting, weeding, harvesting, and marketing integrate agriculture knowledge (Reeve et al., 2014).

In addition, attributes such as financial literacy with operating expenses, budgeting, and product investments can be linked to mathematical learning thus enriching the experiential learning process. Bishop (1998) noted that farmers’ markets allow students to use common sense strategies to manage everyday math problems. This type of math is often overlooked compared to “loftier, equation-based ‘Mathematics’ that signifies high-level abstract thinking” (Mokros and Atkinson, 2018, p.3). Other educational benefits have also been linked to the integration of a farmers’ market, such as nutritional awareness, especially for those in low-income families (Dannefer et al., 2016).

While traditional farmers’ markets allow for direct relationships between local producers and their customers, there is also a movement to integrate technological intervention in the form of virtual farmers’ markets (Balkrishna et al., 2014). These virtual platforms allow farmers to sell produce and products to multiple customers, thus reducing the middlemen of large corporations (Balkrishna et al., 2014). Other areas of agriculture, such as the use of augmented reality (AR), provide support for agriculture planning and enable field checks, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic (GlobeNewsWire). There are increasing studies that look at the food-tech industry, and specifically the role of AR in sustaining food-supply chains (Rejeb et al., 2021).

This project hopes to bridge the attributes of a traditional farmers’ market with the integration of technology to support students where it seems natural and fitting. By providing additional integration of technological practices to the hands-on learning opportunities, the goal is to determine if students can enrich the experiential learning cycle through both technology and non-technological methods.