Farmers Markets Connect Biodiversity, Culture and Community
Vancouver Farmers Markets is participating in FMCOUNT!, a global initiative exploring the role of farmers markets in supporting agricultural biodiversity and the connections between farmers and consumers.
How does biodiversity feel like at a farmers market? It’s of course the wide variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, legumes, nuts, seeds and more. It is also the different varieties a farmer chooses to grow, the food traditions they make possible, and the connections that form when people discover something new, or find something familiar.
This October, Vancouver Farmers Markets (VFM) is participating in FMCOUNT!, a global campaign launched by the World Farmers Markets Coalition (WorldFMC). Running from October 24 to November 1, 2026, the campaign brings together farmers markets, market managers, farmers and researchers to document the diversity found at markets and better understand how farmers markets can contribute to maintaining, promoting and reproducing agricultural biodiversity.
Counting what Grows
Agricultural biodiversity is about more than the number of plant species found in nature. It also depends on the diversity of crops and varieties that farmers cultivate, exchange and bring to consumers.
Farmers markets provide a direct connection between farmers and the people who buy their food. This connection can create opportunities for local, traditional, heirloom, neglected and underutilised varieties to remain visible, available and commercially relevant.
As part of FMCOUNT!, participating markets will document the different plant-based products and varieties available for sale on a market day. The campaign will also gather information from market managers and farmers about their approaches to biodiversity, their reasons for cultivating different crops and varieties, and whether participation in farmers markets influences what they grow.
By combining a practical biodiversity count with surveys and interviews, FMCOUNT! aims to build evidence about the contribution farmers markets can make to agricultural biodiversity and inform future policy and practice.
Biodiversity meets Cultural Diversity
At Vancouver Farmers Markets, biodiversity has another important dimension: the cultural diversity of the people who call this place home.
BC’s agricultural landscape includes more than the crops traditionally associated with the region. Local farmers also grow fruits and vegetables that are staples in food cultures around the world, reflecting the interests, tastes and traditions of the communities they serve.
For immigrants, finding a familiar vegetable or fruit at a farmers market, and especially when that has been grown by a local BC farmer, it means so much! It can bring back memories of home, make favourite recipes possible with locally grown ingredients, and create a connection between food traditions and the place they now live.
These moments also create opportunities for discovery. Shoppers can learn about unfamiliar crops, farmers can connect with customers who value what they grow, and a wider range of plants and varieties can find a place in our local food system.
Farmers markets end up becoming spaces where agricultural biodiversity and cultural diversity meet. The relationship between farmers and consumers helps create demand for a broader range of crops.
Through FMCOUNT!, VFM joins a global effort to make the contribution of farmers markets more visible and measurable.
And while the initiative will help count the diversity on our market tables, the value of that diversity extends beyond the numbers. It lives in the livelihoods of local farmers, the food traditions carried across generations, the curiosity of shoppers discovering something new, and the joy of finding something familiar grown close to home.
Farmers markets count when it comes to biodiversity. They also count as places where food connects people, cultures and communities.
Learn more about the global initiative through the World Farmers Markets Coalition (WorldFMC).
