§ 261 — Powers and duties of department

§ 261. Powers and duties of department. The department shall:\n 1. perform necessary activities to encourage the development and\nimprovement of farmers' markets throughout New York state;\n 2. provide technical assistance to any public or private agency for\nthe planning, financing or development of a farmers' market, which\nmarket may include facilities for first-instance processing, shipping,\nstorage, and direct sales of farm and food products on a retail or\nwholesale basis;\n 3. provide grants, from amounts appropriated, for state assistance to\nfarmers' markets, as provided under section two hundred sixty-two of\nthis article;\n 4. collect, compile and publish economic information on farmers'\nmarkets in the state;\n 5. establish working relationships with interested individuals and\norganizations and cooperative extensions for the purposes of this\narticle; and\n 6. compile listings of available funding resources for the development\nand/or improvement of farmers' markets within the state. The department\nshall periodically advise municipal corporations, regional market\nauthorities, public benefit corporations, not-for-profit corporations\nand agricultural cooperatives organized pursuant to the cooperative\ncorporations law as to the availability of such information and shall\nprovide such listings upon request.\n