When you shop at the farmers market, everybody wins. As a customer, you get to select from the finest, the freshest and the best local produce and prepared foods that money can buy. You'll find a terrific variety of freshly picked vegetables and fruits, homemade baked goods, locally prepared, pickled, brewed and smoked goods, and much, much more.
You can meet and visit with the growers, ask questions and get closer to the sources of locally grown and prepared wholesome, nutritious food. What's more, you can be confident and feel good about buying home-grown food from your neighbors. Hey, it's fun to talk to the folks who grow it. And they'll appreciate your feedback.
In an age of global markets, it is all too easy to see how local towns and communities can easily lose touch with the efforts and the productivity of area farmers and growers. By shopping at the farmers market, you support local growers and the productive use of our land and water. And you help support the preservation of agricultural land and the knowledge of our agricultural heritage for future generations. What's more, when you shop at the farmers market, you help strengthen our rural economy. Besides, locally grown and prepared foods tastes better and are more nutritious than fruits and vegetables that are picked before they're ripe and then transported across the continent or halfway around the world.
The tradition of farmers markets can be traced back to ancient times. farmers markets were the centers of villages and towns. They were not only places where people gathered to buy, barter and trade goods and services, but places where people met to exchange news and share stories with one another, as well. Many parts of the world have a tradition of farmers markets going back many centuries.
In much the same way, farmers markets have deep roots in our nation's history. In 1806, Thomas Jefferson wrote about buying beef, eggs and vegetables at an outdoor market. Throughout much of the 19th century, outdoor marketplaces were the heart of our American cities, and the farmers markets were the centers of commerce in rural communities. But as the country grew, everything changed. More and better roads were built nationwide, and more modern methods of refrigeration were invented and applied. It became possible to transport produce from large commercial farms to centers hundreds, even thousands of miles away. Wholesalers took advantage of opportunities to place fruit and vegetables produced by large commercial and corporate growers into neighborhood supermarkets owned by even larger corporations. The small farmer was unable to compete.
But, in recent decades, farmers markets have been making a comeback. Today, Americans spend billions of dollars annually at more than 6,100 farmers markets nationwide.
Your local farmers market is a place where people can come together, not just to buy and sell food but to share gardening tips and ideas, recipes and seasonal information, as well. Shopping at the farmers market can be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The customer gets the freshest, highest quality food possible, and the grower makes some money. There are no middlemen and no stockholders, just local, independent growers selling their own produce direct to the public.
Support your local farmers market.
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Chateaugay Lake
Farmers Market
Hollywood Inn Restaurant Lawn, 4939 State Route 374
Market Manager: Jo Ellen Saumier 518-497-6038
Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Now through Sept. 3
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Elizabethtown Farmers Market
Behind Adirondack Center Museum, 7590 Court St.
Market Manager: Gina Agoney 518-293-7877
Fridays: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Now through Oct. 14
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Essex Farmers Market
Behind the Essex town hall
Market Manager: Sam Hendren 518-834-7306
Sundays: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
June 26 through Sept. 4
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Keene Valley Farmers Market
State Route 73 at Marcy Airfield
Market Manager: Dick Crawford 518-561-7167
Sundays: 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Now through Oct. 9
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Lake Placid Farmers Market
Lake Placid Center for the Arts,
17 Algonquin Drive
Market Manager: Sam Hendren: 518-524-7247
Wednesdays: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
June 22 through Oct. 12
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Malone Farmers Market
Route 11 at Malone Airport
(across from Wal-Mart)
Market Manager: Vicky Lesniak 518-497-0083
Wednesdays: Noon to 4:30 p.m.
Now through Oct. 12
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Paul Smiths Farmers Market
Paul Smith's College VIC,
State Route 30
Market Manager: Janet Burl 518-483-6863
Fridays: 2 to 5 p.m.
Now through Sept. 23
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Plattsburgh Farmers and Crafters Market
Farmers Market Pavilion,
Durkee Street parking lot in downtown Plattsburgh
Market Manager: Pat Parker
518-493-6761
Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
June 23 to Sept. 22
Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Now through Oct. 9
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Port Henry Farmers Market
Boni's Bistro parking lot,
Main Street
Manager: Kelly Ann King
518- 546-4083.
Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Now through Sept. 28
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Saranac Lake Farmers Market
Riverside Park at Route 3 and Main Street
Market Manager: Lou Lesniak 518-497-0083
Tuesdays: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Now through Sept. 27
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Schroon Lake Farmers Market
Village parking lot
Market contact: Sam Hendren
518-834-7306
Mondays: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
June 30 to Sept. 1
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Ticonderoga Farmers Market
Corner of Montcalm and Route 9N, SW of Moses Circle
Market Manager: Matthew Courtright 518-585-6619
Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
June 25 through Oct. 1
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Tupper Lake Farmers Market
Wild Center, 45 Museum Drive
Market Manager: Ellen Beberman 518-891-7470
Thursdays: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Now through Sept. 15
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Willsboro Farmers Market
Rt 22 across from the old Mountain View Restaurant
Market Manager: Linda Therrien 518-963-4383
Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Now through Sept. 8