Farminar – where now for digital farmers markets?
With the rapid spread of digital technology, how is this impacting the local food economy? To address at least some aspects of this question, a farminar (aka webinar with a farmer focus), organised by Cultivate via its work with the CODECS Horizon Europe project, was held in January 2026. The meeting focused on the logic for and day to day running of digital farmers markets, with an emphasis on the OFN, or Open Food Network.
The digital and agri-food content
Oliver Moore provided an overview of the CODECS Horizon project, which is focused on sustainable digitisation in farming. It assesses the costs and benefits of digital support systems using a “Living Lab” model.
This Living Lab is based in the Cloughjordan Food Hub which is in the Community Enterprise Centre there. This space is shared by Cultivate and Cloughjordan Community Farm (CCF). CCF runs the local OFN – the North Tipperary Online Farmers Market. The Living Lab’s focal question is: “Can digital farmers markets ensure local farmers get paid a fair price while providing consumers with better, fairer ways to source food directly?”
Digital technology presents significant issues. Major tech companies’ “growth at all costs” model—seen in traditional digital platforms and now AI—is destructive: we are seeing trends towards techno-feudalism and techno-imperialism, where power imbalances allow for the extraction of data and pressure to water down EU protections like GDPR. Tech is also implicated in massive water and climate impacts, as well as the rise of the far right through algorithmic bias, restrictions on freedom via profiling (e.g. Travel into the US) and more.
He noted a major coming change – dynamic pricing – pioneered by airlines and high profile events but now potentially coming to supermarkets, where your digital footprint could determine the price you pay based on your perceived need or desperation.
In Ireland, power is heavily concentrated at the retailer and processor levels. Unlike the rest of Europe, there is a lack of diverse store categories, with people mostly relying on huge supermarkets. Digital shifts can make this concentration more pronounced.
Furthermore, Ireland has little local food infrastructure and vanishingly few suppliers. Ireland exports a massive amount of agri-food commodities and now spends the smallest share of total expenditure on food (8.3%) in the EU.
“We need systemic change for both producers and consumers. Non-proprietary digital farmers markets can be a part of that story” he concluded.
OFN in Ireland
Evonne Boland from OFN Ireland presented an overview of the Open Food Network platform, highlighting its community-owned nature, efficiency and flexibility for small-scale food producers.
- Flexibility: The software evolves weekly based on global feedback.
- Community Ownership: Being community-owned reduces the risk of users being left “high and dry” by private equity decisions.
- Subsidiarity: Decisions are made at the lowest level possible, meaning OFN Ireland can prioritize Irish needs specifically.
While there are some benefits in this compared to traditional farmer’s markets, there are also barriers such as resistance to digital tools and competition from supermarkets. She explained the specific features of the Open Food Network platform, including detailed product information and pricing transparency:
“producers know exactly what is bought and paid for before they leave the farm, reducing the waste and ‘time poverty’ associated with traditional markets. However, challenges remain. There is still resistance to digital tools on the supplier side, and consumers often miss the “touch and feel” or spontaneity of an in-person market. We also face a lack of local food infrastructure and stiff competition from the supermarket sector.”
Open Food Network Overview
Nick provided an overview of the Open Food Network, highlighting its global reach of 22 countries and its customibable software for various food-related ventures. He showed the versatility of the platform, which allows for a new ‘skin’ to be layered onto the standard layout, so non-food providers such as flower farmers can use the platform coherently. Textiles and timber, as well as educational applications, are also being considered or integrated.
Aggregation services are also being added:
“We are also moving into Public Procurement. We have a project running until 2028 to help food hubs sell into schools, hospitals, and prisons. These buyers often need volumes (like 100kg of carrots) that one small grower can’t provide. Our software allows a hub to take the contract and source the total amount from multiple small growers automatically”.
He also cited the use of a subset of the map for specialised networks, like “Venison Producers,” to help manage overpopulated deer herds.
When asked about Community Supported Agriculture, and how OFN can be best used in this content, Nick pointed to the “Subscriptions feature”: “Shoppers don’t have to fill a basket every week; they automatically receive their share, and the software handles the recurring payments.”
Importantly, he also named a support – “We are also working on Digital Inclusion projects to help producers who find the technology daunting to take better photos and manage their online listings.”
Also see here for OFN work on food equality and food dignity.
Nick also mentioned a European Union-funded project called WiNN organic, which focuses on sustainability and short food supply chains. He emphasized the importance of building relationships between countries and promoting values such as subsidiarity, transparency, and kindness in the food system.
Cavan Local Green Box
Imelda Mullin uses a different click and collect system (as background supports required this some years back). Nonetheless similar challenges exist: she noted challenges like a significant drop in orders and loss of key anchor producers over the years. She also described initiatives like workplace drops and a drama performance to raise awareness about local food initiatives.
“To be honest, it has been a struggle. Our orders dropped from a high of 71 per week during COVID to an average of 37 last year—a 43% drop. Part of this is because people returned to physical work and can’t always make the collection times. We also lost “anchor products” like raw milk and organic chicken. When a small producer goes out of business, customers who came for that one specific item stop ordering everything else.”
The case for a basic income for local food organisers is clear as this good work for the community is undersupported: “I find that some producers have become disengaged, treating us more like wholesalers than a community hub. We’ve also struggled with a lack of funding for organisers. I’ve reached out to local agencies, but currently, no one is tackling the issue of producer creation in Cavan.”
Despite these problems, she points out that “our “spend per box” has actually gone up, meaning our remaining customers are highly committed and value-driven.”
She also pointed to a new potential development – “this year, we are looking at a hybrid model — stacking an in-person market on a Thursday alongside the digital pre-orders to attract new people.”
Even the innovator, Imelda also referenced a drama performance about the Green Box and local food which featured at the Electric Picnic Festival in 2025.
What happens when markets are well supported?
Iva Pocock presented on the North Tipperary Online Farmers Market, which launched in Cloughjordan in 2021 with funding from Rethink Ireland. The market initially benefited from the COVID restrictions on travel and the functioning of other markets; it then saw decline post-covid.
However, since expanding to a larger town close to Cloughjordan, Nenagh, with a grant from the Department of Agriculture, the market has seen “a seven-fold increase in turnover”. The market operates weekly – “one of our most important strategic decisions” as it was previously running fortnightly. This change “helped customers knit the market into their regular shopping habits”.
Both markets help each other – there is greater supply for customers as more products are now available in both; similarly, producers only have a single delivery day to integrate.
Iva discussed strategies to encourage customer orders – being a “one-stop shop” for organic and free-range meat in North Tipperary” is a real positive.
Similarly, good product photography, technical support for producers, and the significance of word-of-mouth, whatsapp and email reminders, over and above social media (which is mostly just good for visibility) were emphasised.
Though the market still relies on funding to cover operational costs, this can also be seen as a showcase of the benefits of a basic income for local food organisers.
Questions Questions
During the webinar we asked two questions. Our first question was: What is the biggest practical barrier to launching or using an online farmers market? (e.g., Logistics, Time, Tech-skills, Customer-reach)”. Based on the responses, here’s the wordcloud and some selected quotes:
“Tech-skills, time for setting up online stores and manage orders (apart from the time working on the farm, growing, harvesting, packing, delivery).” Academic Researcher, Cork
“customer reach, prices compared to supermarkets low prices” market organiser, Switzerland
Our second question asked: What is the single most important support that would make online markets ‘work’ in your area? (e.g., Shared hub space, Local coordinator, Specific funding, Cooperative training). Baed on the responses here’s this wordcloud and some selected quotes:
“Local Coordinator, Host NGO, Strategic Location for Pickups. Needs a 5 year grant to back it and allow it to build up to sustainability” local food producer Ireland
“firstly a coordinator, then support from other agencies: Local Enterprise Board, Tourism, Volunteer Groups to help promote it” civil servant Ireland
“In Los Angeles, bulk dried goods (flour, beans, chicken feed) worked, but produce didn’t. Bulk dried goods don’t lose much from not seeing the product in person” Market organiser US
Discussion
Sean O Farrell – an organic meat supplier to Cloughjordan and Nenagh markets – shared his experience with weekly orders. “I get great satisfaction knowing customers value my agroecological methods”. However, he also pointed to the economics of delivery of small orders, which can be challenging. He’d also love to mix the digital delivery and traditional markets approaches – “I like meeting the consumers. I’d love to see more “meet the farmer” events to bridge that gap”
Caitriona Scully of the Mid West Biodistrict said that “we find many producers already have their own individual digital presence. The challenge is joining up that thinking so they aren’t all working in isolation. Mapping the producers and customers before launching the tech is essential.”
Nick introduced the Good Food Loop project as a model for increasing trading volumes through regional collaboration. The discussion concluded with plans for future events and the significance of public procurement and supporting local food organisers to build more robust local food economies.
CODECS has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation Programme under Grant Agreement n. 101060179. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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