Supporting Local Food with Social Media

Let’s take a look at HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) Campaign, specifically at their project in Austin, the HOPE Farmers Market.  The HOPE campaign is an eco-conscious non-profit that helps artists and musicians support education projects around the world.  The goal of their project is to motivate a community and develop local awareness regarding global issues.  Here in Austin, the HOPE Campaign has cultivated a strong presence with their HOPE Farmers Market project.  The purpose of the HOPE Farmers Market is to unite the community to support a local food system, to increase access to healthy food, and celebrate the local culture in East Austin.  The market features farmers, food artisans, and artists from Central Texas.  Here is where you can find the HOPE Farmers Market and links to their social media sites:

• Address: Plaza Saltillo, 412 Comal Street (At 5^th and Comal in East Austin)
• Hours: Sundays 11am – 3pm
• Blog: http://hopefarmersmarket.org/news-events/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/HOPEMarketATX
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HOPEMarketATX?fref=ts

My interest to analyze the HOPE Farmers Market is based on the fact that it is the longest running Sunday farmers market in Austin. From my perspective, their social media efforts play a key factor in sustaining their success.  In Aligning Social Media with Organizational Goals, blogger Rosita Cortez writes that having a social media “presence” is of no value unless your online activity is in sync with the organization’s goal and mission.  Reputation management and social media are major factors to an organization’s overall presence.  It is important for nonprofits to establish merit within their social media activity and translate messaging to their audience. Cortez outlines three tactics to successfully align the organization’s social media activity with organizational objectives:  1) monitor, respond and engage in conversations happening around your nonprofit; 2) proactively identify advocates and build relationships with key influencers; and 3) create and share valuable content to position your organization as trust-worthy leader.

HOPE Farmers Market is an excellent example a nonprofit that fulfills these criteria.  They have a very active social media presence on Facebook and Twitter and are always sharing valuable information with their fan-base on a daily basis.  Whether it is talking about neighborhood events or their featured vendors, HOPE Farmers Markets makes it their mission to keep their friends and followers looking forward to Sundays.  Supporting the local community, farmers and artisans are always at the forefront of every post and tweet.  Today (Sunday, March 3^rd) was a big day for HOPE as the market moved to a new location at the Plaza Saltillo.  They’ve used social media to engage their audience in conversations building up to the event and special happenings in anticipation of celebrating the move.  Below are a few examples.

Kudos to the HOPE Farmers Market social media team for always educating Austin about healthy eating and buying local, and congratulations on the new location!  Stay tuned.