The need for an updated framework for all types of farmers markets and the varied levels of capacity to share the impacts of their work led to the development of the Farmers Market Metrics (Metrics) program at the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC), a nonprofit working to strengthen farmers markets across the country. This essay provides a timeline of the steps and partnerships that led to the creation of this program, including the exploration of existing data collection systems suitable for

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... oots markets, observations from markets engaged in evaluation, feedback by pilot users of the Metrics system, and best practices and recom-mendations uncovered during the development of Metrics.