Today we had the annual meeting for the Boulder County Farmers Market of which I am a member. The Boulder County Farmers market consists of both the Longmont Market and the Boulder Market (two cities in the county). The executive director, Bob D’Alessandro, made some good points about farmers markets that I thought were important enough to share.
He said that farmers markets are important because consumers now have an interest in:
knowing where their food comes from, how it was grown, how far it traveled, how fresh it is, how it was processed and what additives it contains.
Farmers markets are also important because they support local agriculture. This is important to local communities because agriculture provides jobs, brings in sales tax and money to the community. But it also supports our quality of life in a number of ways; farm tours, land conservation, small farms ecologically friendly and importantly farmers markets are fun! They are a great place to socialize, get a bite to eat and see what’s new.
Thankfully there are more farmers markets in the country than there are Walmarts!
Boulder County Farmers Market is critical in supporting local agriculture and its mission includes being a place for local farms to sell product and providing support and encouragement for small farmers. The Boulder Market celebrates its 25th year this year and has been named as one of the top 10 markets in the country.
How do you feel about Farmers Markets?