Who doesn't love farmers' markets? Community gathering place, critical direct local market for small farmers, smorgasbord of delicious food...

There are over 5,200 farmers' markets across the country–and for many people, their local farmers' market is the best, possibly only, way for them to find local products and connect with the farmers and ranchers who grow them. The number of markets across the country has tripled since 1994:

Which is, as someone who runs a farmers' market and sits on the Oregon Farmers' Markets Association Board, outstanding to see!

But with this come challenges, especially, it seems, for rural communities. The markets that are the most economically powerful for farmers are most often the large urban ones–think Portland Farmers' Market, the Ferry Building in San Francisco, and so on. Rural markets can and do succeed all the time, but they are less likely to act as the sole or even primary source of income for a full-time farmer looking to sell her products locally. If there are only 6,000 people in your town, there are only so many shoppers you're likely to see on a given day.

Most of the farmers who sell at our local markets in the Gorge use markets as one of 2-5 means of getting their products out–in addition to CSAs, farm stands, sales to restaurants, etc. Our farmers tell me they need to somehow find more shoppers, and in rural places, this can be harder.

I spotted this piece by Russ Parsons in the Los Angeles Times, of all places, and it really struck me as relevant --

Farmers markets have increased choice and improved the quality of fruits and vegetables for shoppers, and, perhaps most radically, they have provided farmers with a way to actually earn more money by selling food with flavor, as opposed to mainstream farmers who grow primarily for volume.

But what's even more remarkable is that farmers markets have achieved all of that despite what has to be one of the most inefficient business plans ever devised. If you wanted to design a market from scratch, this almost certainly wouldn't be the way you'd do it. Let's see … it'll be open for only four hours a week. If a customer can't make it, they miss it. Let's just stick the markets wherever we can. And if shoppers can't find a parking spot, they miss it. For farmers, there's the not inconsiderable matter of having to drive hundreds of miles every day to spend hours standing outside, weighing lettuce and making change.

So how can we strengthen and improve these vital opportunities for farmers and shoppers to connect? Parsons throws out some great conversation-starters: more year-round farmers' market facilities, on-site kitchens for cooking and value-added products, and mobile markets that travel a region or community. The idea is to find a way that we can build on markets' success and find some innovative solutions to help them grow.

What are the farmers' markets doing in YOUR rural community that makes them successful? Do you have ideas for how we can find creative ways to get more fresh, local products into rural communities?

Read the full piece in the Los Angeles Times here.

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