Are farmers markets “in” — the new, hip thing?

Looking at the clientele at my local farmers market this weekend, I realized, that yes, buying local is in.

Take, for example, the number of farmers markets in my area. It’s mind-boggling! I could spend all day Saturday and all day Sunday going from one farmers market to another, and I probably still wouldn’t be able to make it to each market… before running completely out of money.

Take again, the conversations that I hear. Customers are asking the farmers themselves, “is this asparagus organic?” to hear, “we’re not certified, but there are no pesticides on our farm.”

Farmers markets are hip. I guess the natural next question is, how do we keep it sustainable? We know that trends fade eventually, so how do we keep farmers markets relevant?

I think we’re still riding the wave and haven’t yet crested. I’ll be interested to see how many more farmers markets there are this year — it’s clear that it’ll be more than last year, but how much more?

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