Farmers Market

MAKING A COMEBACK

For thousands of years, modern society was built around the idea of the market. Produce, meats, cheeses, handmade jewelry, clothes, and household items were all traded and bartered in common town squares. Vendors and farmers would meet together with citizens in the piazza of ancient Rome, the platz of ancient Germany, the bazaars of Morocco and Egypt. These vibrant areas of trade reflected the communal, local spirit of food production. Without the modern practices of industrialization and transport, farmers bought and sold their goods in their neighborhoods. Today, the story is very different. Machine harvesting, chemicals sprays, and an intricate truck transport system allow large food companies to scale and meet the national demand for fresh food every day.

So, what happened to the humble, local farmers market?

A new wave of buying local, eating local, and farm-to-table is regaining popularity. Much like Natural Wines, which mark a return to unprocessed, hand made wines, local, unprocessed food can be very beneficial to you.

Farm-to-Customer Origins

Farmers markets are direct-to-customer markets that make fresh, local food available to our community directly from the farmers themselves. These markets also allow farms to keep more of the money from their sales, which in turn supports Natural farming practices. Farmers markets are hardly a new concept. In fact, they harken back all the way to the dawn of civilization. Eight thousand years ago, Egyptian farmers on the Nile came together to sell their fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats to customers.

More recently, even in Western cultures, farmers markets were the norm. The first recorded farmers market in the US was in 1634 in Boston, and cities like Philadelphia and New York soon followed suit. In contrast, the first supermarkets emerged less than 100 years ago– sometime between the two world wars. As a result of the sheer economic efficiency of chain grocery stores, farmers markets soon experienced a severe decline. That’s why today six major retailers own a majority of the US grocery market share. However, some hopeful evidence suggests the farm-to-customer economy is on the rise once again. In the past 25 years, the total number of farmers markets in the US has grown more than fourfold, to over 8,600 markets nationwide. If the trend continues, we might see the dawn of a new era of food and agriculture. But what could explain such a shift in purchasing habits?

The Hidden Benefits of Farmers Markets

Some of the benefits of farmers markets are easy to see. For example, food that travels shorter distances is fresher. Typically, farmers travel 50 miles or less to sell their produce and other goods, whereas, grocery store produce travels an average of 1,200 miles before it reaches the shelves. Farmers also have the freedom to cultivate traditional varieties of plants and animals that are more nutritious. One-third of the earth’s farmland is depleted of vital nutrients, and we continue to lose 24 billion tons of fertile topsoil per year due to intensive farming practices. Studies show mass market fruits and veggies are up to 40% less nutritious than historic heirloom varieties. Farmers markets aren’t just better for your and your family’s health, though. Farmers selling directly to customers receive close to 90 cents on the dollar for their food, as opposed to around 17 cents per dollar if they sell through grocery stores. And the economic impact of local purchasing has a “ripple effect,” keeping two or three times more money in the local community compared to buying from large chains.

Farmers markets are restoring the farmer to a place of recognition and respect. This inspires more people to work with their hands and create local farms, instead of taking up the mantle of machine work. Organically grown, handpicked produce is difficult to make profitable, but farmers markets help encourage small family growers to keep working hard to feed their local communities. As the poet Wendell Berry once said,

“We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the highest order, a kind of artist.”

When you visit your local farmers market, you not only get to meet and form relationships with farmers, but also enjoy mingling with neighbors and likeminded people who care about local economies, health, and the environment. In the end, the reasons behind the resurgence of farmers markets might be simple, after all. It just feels right– and the food tastes better, too.

If you aren’t sure where to find the closest farmers market, ask locally or check LocalHarvest.org, EatWellGuide.org, or the USDA Farmers Market Directory at www.ams.usda.gov/local-food-directories/farmersmarkets