Written by Rayne Pegg, Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service
The Secretary of Agriculture has officially declared August 1-7 2010 as National Farmers Market Week.
National Farmers Market Week is an opportunity to celebrate the thriving farmers markets in your community. It’s a time to specifically honor the market vendors who tend the farms, grow the produce, raise the meat, bake the bread and prepare the other fresh local products you find at your farmers market. It’s a time to thank the market managers who organize and run farmers markets smoothly so you can enjoy the goods vendors have to offer. It’s a time to benefit from the community pride and economic opportunities farmers markets build in towns and cities across the country.
In addition to the Secretary’s Proclamation, the USDA has also prepared an audio Public Service Announcements (PSA), available in both English and Spanish that can be downloaded and used on your community radio station, website, or blog to mark the week. Please ask your local farmers market manager what other special events are going on to celebrate National Farmers Market Week.
You may be a regular farmers market shopper, relying on farmers markets for your local and fresh produce, meats, cheeses, breads, flowers and other products. You might have never been to a farmers market but looking for a reason to go. Thousands of the country’s farmers markets are listed on the USDA Farmers Market Directory. Make National Farmers Market Week 2010, August 1-7, an excuse to find a farmers market new to you.