Locating farmers' markets with an incorporation of spatio-temporal variation

The recent drive among consumers to purchase fresh, healthy and environmentally friendly food has brought about a renewed interest in farmers' markets. However, ensuring the success of a farmers' market is not an easy task. Unlike general grocery stores, farmers' markets often have very limited hours of service and are distributed sparsely in space. Both spatial and temporal constraints that people experience in their daily lives limit their accessibility to a farmers' market. This research incorporates such constraints in the service provision planning of farmers' markets. In particular, two models are proposed to select locations and the associated service schedules for a fixed number of farmers' markets. A case study is conducted in Tucson, Arizona to demonstrate the merits of the new approach.