A demand...but no supply

Last summer, when I set out to find vendors willing to come to our market, I visited nearly every farmers’ market in the region over a one month period. I very soon found out some three unfortunate truths. 1. Almost every farm attending markets was at their limit. Those who were attending markets, especially Saturday markets, were tapped out. Attending a market meant two days of work. One day to pack up the truck; another day to drive to market, sell, and pack-up and go home. Leaving only five days to work on the farm – or four days if they were lucky enough to take one day of rest. Many were attending two markets, leaving even less time to do the work that is so important to us, growing food. 2. There are fewer farms in Prince Georges County than any other county in the Maryland. One of my main resources was the So. Maryland. So Good Farm Guide put out by the Southern Maryland Agriculture Development Commission. The 2007-2008 edition lists 28 “farms” in Prince Georges’ County, twelve of which grow vegetables and fruit. I called all of them, three times. Maybe more. Plus e-mails. I tried to generate interest in a Prince George’s only market, but many would prefer to continue to sell at their established markets in Montgomery County and Fairfax on Saturday as opposed to take a risk on a new market in their own county. 3. The Maryland Department of Agriculture has almost no resources to help new markets get established. According to the Maryland Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, having “Staff and financial resources to operate the markets have been gone for a long time.” So if you are inclined to think, “It’s easy to start a Farmer’s Market. You find Farmers, and they come,” I encourage you to think again. It’s harder to find a farmer than you think. Instead, think of all of your friends, neighbors, and relatives, how of them are farmers? Therein lays the problem.