We’ve had an explosion of farmers markets. Their number has doubled in the past 10 years. There are almost 7,000 farmers markets around the country, the fastest growing segment of the food marketplace. By shopping at a farmers market, you support local agriculture, which has a great many benefits. You keep farmers in your community. You keep land from being sprawled with houses and shopping centers. You have the experience of shopping in the farmers market, which is the new public square. You support a lot of values when you shop at the farmers market. Farmers markets are a very important part of building an alternative food chain. You’re now eating in a different way. You’re eating less processed food. There is no high fructose corn syrup in the farmers market. There are no monoglycerides, no triglycerides. None of those additives are present in fresh, seasonal food. When you start cooking food, as opposed to buying it precooked or processed, both you and the farmer benefit, as a matter of health. A farmers market is kind of like a public square, and there is a nice social energy. There was a study done a couple years ago that found that people have 10 times as many conversations at the farmers market than they do at the supermarket. Farmer’s markets are more than places to buy food. They’re important parts of the community. I meet my neighbors there, and I meet farmers. Since most of us are urbanites, we have very little contact with the countryside, but the countryside always supports the cities. Cities cannot survive without rural areas to feed them. At the farmers market, city meets country. People learn about where their food comes from and the people who grow it.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 21:25:59 +0000
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