Lucas Farmer's Market
Lucas, Texas
Joni Clarke, ICMA-CM, City Manager
Kent Souriyasak, Assistant to the City Manager
Lucas, Texas, was originally home to several farming communities and has developed into a bedroom community (population 8,631) in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Despite this evolution, Lucas still has agricultural producers who are passionate about local produce and meats.
Discussions about a farmers market began as early as 2005, but limited resources and inactive involvement delayed its creation for 14 years. In 2019, residents made a collective, organized effort to establish the market in partnership with the city to provide the community with local access to agricultural products, value-added products, artisanal products, and ready-to-eat foods. The city council and the city’s Parks and Open Space Board approved the creation of the market, and residents led an initiative to form a committee to establish rules and regulations, recruit vendors, plan operations, prepare marketing, and coordinate volunteers. The city contributed such resources as staffing, supplies, setup, teardown, and traffic safety.
The mission of the market is to create a safe and pleasant social experience for the community and visitors by providing access to local farmers, food producers, and artists. The city held two successful trial markets in 2019 and developed plans for a full season in 2020. Each trial market attracted an average of 39 vendors and more than 1,000 customers, and the city incurred direct costs of $5,725 and indirect costs of $3,337 for staffing and supplies. To guide future improvements, the city and the committee gathered and evaluated feedback about logistics, operations, staffing, vendor selection, and marketing.
The most difficult period occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of public health concerns, the city canceled most of the markets scheduled for the spring and summer of 2020 and worked with the market committee to meet changing public health and safety requirements. They outlined five stages to guide operations, starting with normal operations adjusted to provide more spacing (stage 1) and ending with complete closure of the market (stage 5). Stages 2, 3, and 4 imposed increasingly strict restrictions, including masking, parking and crowd limitation, and drive-through purchasing only.
The pandemic spurred a reexamination of needs, resources, and opportunities and set the stage for the 2021 season. The 20-member committee, with active involvement of the Parks and Open Space Board, discussed ways to increase volunteers, streamline tasks, reduce the work burden for city staff, recruit vendors, improve marketing, and adjust rules and regulations as necessary. The city approved $5,000 to fund market operations and adopted a vendor fee of $20 per market for nonresidents. The 2021 season offered 12 regular markets and two additional markets in conjunction with the city’s special events. It was very successful, with an average of 343 vehicles and 686 visitors per market.
Several new programs and activities support the market’s mission. A Market Share program assists underserved communities by partnering with local food pantries and charities, allowing residents to easily donate and share food with those in need. The continuing pandemic, exacerbated by Winter Storm Uri, pushed even more local families to seek assistance. Market Share collected a trailer of food donations and raised more than $1,000 to benefit the local charities.
Additional market programs have included youth booths, which give young entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase their goods and gain important business skills; a Lucas historical exhibit; a live chef demonstration; an ice cream competition; pumpkin decorations; and the twentieth anniversary commemoration of 9/11.
The success of the Lucas Farmers Market is due in large part to the strong partnership between the city and the residents who serve on the market committee. Together, they identify needs and resources, address safety concerns, and resolve any conflicts. They have invested countless hours in the partnership to create a special experience benefiting the entire community.
