The rise in Farmer’s Market availability is overall a great thing, but it does have its downside. First off, by having a market in every town we dilute the number of potential buyers. There is a balancing act between what is “local” and what is “sustainable.” While the convenience of market on the corner is great for the buyers, how does the farmer meet that demand. Every 4 hour market is only part of a farmer’s day. He/she still has to do the regular farm chores, watering, weeding, or in the case of livestock, feeding, watering, moving, catching, etc. Produce farmers have to get up early and walk through their fields, harvesting, cleaning, and weighing their produce before loading up the truck. Then the drive, the set up, the unloading, then the buyers show up. When that’s all done they have to pack up, settle up with the market, load up the truck, drive home, unload and disperse the produce, and then go back to the check the waters, the fields, the animals, etc.
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