Read on to learn more about why winter farmers’ markets are a good choice for both farmer and shopper.
Many people may consider farmers’ markets as a spring and summer thing. Folks who shop them regularly look forward to the spring opening of the farmers market with excitement and anticipation. Over many months, those markets provide fresh, delicious local produce and goods. Then, once winter rolls around, the markets close down for the season. This doesn’t need to be how it is, however, and is, in fact, not the case in many parts of the country. Winter farmers’ markets are increasingly popular around the country. Read on to learn more about why winter farmers’ markets are a good choice for both farmer and shopper.
Good For Shoppers
The most obvious benefit to customers is that a winter market allows you to continue having access to local, healthy foods. For many people, however, this may mean being exposed to foods, especially winter vegetables, that they may not have had before. In many households, winter means that the veggies and fruit we eat are packaged, either canned or frozen and shipped in from other places so that we can continue eating things that aren’t in season. At a local market, everything that you buy is going to be growing locally, so you may discover new squashes or fruits that you’ve never had but learn that you love.
Good For Farmers
Winter markets allow farmers to expand the selling year and decrease the length of winter months when sales are slow. It also gives farmers the opportunity to enhance their relationships with local community members. Often there are customers who frequent the same farmer repeatedly during the summer month but lose touch or forget about them during the winter. A winter market is also a good space to promote a CSA that will be ramping up in the spring and work to level out that winter revenue dip.
Good For Communities
Access to healthy food is good for the community overall, and the need for that access doesn’t end when winter starts. If anything, it intensifies. This is why the state of New York moved to year-round farmers markets in some areas around 2011 – a process that was facilitated through grant funding. Many organizations see the value of year-round markets, so if it is something you would like to see in your community, reach out to local organizations or the USDA for guidance.
BAYWATER FARMS HAS THE RIGHT PRODUCE FOR YOU
Baywater Farms is a family-owned and operated farm servicing Baltimore, Washington D.C., Maryland, Delaware beaches, and the Eastern Shore. We are capable of meeting the demands of your produce distributor, restaurant produce supplier, CSA produce supplier, or wholesale produce supplier while maintaining the integrity and character of a small farm. When you work with Baywater Farms, you work with an experienced, ethical, and local farm dedicated to providing the highest-quality heirloom produce.