Heard Around the Nation – Farmers Market Customers Sharing the Love!

Enjoy these great comments from farmers market supporters from across the nation! Send your market some love by leaving a comment of your own. And if you haven’t voted in the America’s Favorite Farmers Markets or told all your friends to vote, do so today because the contest

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What Is a Farmers Market?

Beginning in October 2009, the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) assembled a group of their board members to answer the question: What is a farmers market? The FMC Definition Task Force investigated existing markets, their self-proscribed labels and their connection to local farmers to help find an answer, releasing the result this past May. The definition

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Farmland and Food: Re-Connected

There was a time when talking about the actual growing of food  as a reason to protect farmland from sprawling development garnered little attention.  To be sure it was always on the list, but values such as wildlife habitat, scenic views, open space and cultural heritage often energized support for protecting farmland much more than

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Farming on the Uber-Urban Edge

In Fairfax County, Virginia, next to Tyson’s Corner—one of the nation’s biggest malls—is a small farm stand with a green sign reading, “Potomac Vegetable Farms.”  Multi-million dollar houses sprout up in surrounding fields, but farm owner Hiu Newcomb, her daughter Hana and their partner Ellen Polishuk have found a way to turn the intensely suburban

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The Farms and Food Debate

Last week, The Los Angles Times ran an op-ed that should be of interest to all those involved in the countless farm and food related debates happening across the nation.

Titled “The Facts about Food and Farming,” the piece is an excellent examination of the farm policy debate that is useful for thoughtful people whether they

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Cheaper Local Food?

A new study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture is out to disprove the myth that local food is more expensive than its non-local counterpart…in Iowa, at least.

After examining Iowa-grown vegetables, eggs and meat, the study concludes that local food does in fact have very competitive prices compared to non-local super-market varieties.  Rich Pirog,

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Thank a Farmer

Happy Thanksgiving Week Everyone,

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year.  I am lucky enough go back home to the farm in Illinois, spend time with my family and – the best part – enjoy the delicious harvest that America’s farmers provide to my family’s table- turkey, dressing and farm-fresh pecan pies, to

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State Must Protect Farmland So We Can Feed Ourselves

It’s fall in Western New York, a time of apples, grapes and pumpkins—a time of abundance. Food seems plentiful, but can New York farms grow enough food to feed the residents of our state? The short answer is “no.”

According to Christian Peters, a Cornell University researcher, New York’s 7 million acres of farmland can feed

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