Last updated on August 24, 2011
An article in the New York Times last Sunday:
“Nationwide, the number of farmers’ markets has jumped to 7,175 as of August 5; of those, 1,043 were established this year, according to the federal Agriculture Department. In 2005, there were 4,093 markets across the country.
Here in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, where hand-painted signs for fresh vegetables dot winding roads and eating local has long been a way of life, some farmers and market managers are uttering something once unfathomable: there are too many farmers’ markets.”
Oh no! Heaven forbid that consumers — who, last I checked, still vastly outnumbered farmers — would actually have too much choice and pay too little for healthful foods, right?
The rest of the article is equally mind-boggling. Here is more:
“Jeff Cole, the executive director of Massachusetts Federation of Farmers Markets, said the organization had urged groups not to open new markets near thriving, existing ones, but could not order them not to because of state law. In one instance, a new market opened less than two miles from another, Mr. Cole said. Sales at the first one dropped by more than 30 percent.”
This call for a rationing of farmers markets is symptomatic of a sector of the economy that has lived off of subsidies for far too long. Fear not, however. There is no end in sight to the gravy train: the Farm Bill is due to be renewed in 2012–an election year.