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Foreword
It is a rare treat to read through a book on farmers’ markets and feel like you are eating a new fruit with a unique flavor, yet also with a satisfying familiarity that makes one feel nourished by the experience. When Garry Stephenson asked me to write a foreword to his new book on farmers’ markets, I was surprised and honored. Because he is one of the prominent applied researchers on farmers’ markets in the United States, I also was humbled. I am delighted to contribute to a work which is a wonderfully practical, yet thoroughly researched, overview of the life of farmers’ markets.
The first decade of the 21st century has witnessed another “renaissance” of farmers’ markets in the United States. Researchers and journalists alike have documented the flowering of this community institution with its attendant social, economic, and nutritional benefits for consumers and local farmers (Gillespie, Hilchey, Hinrichs, & Feestra, 2007). Recently, the public’s desire for more “local” food, however that is defined, has been a boon for farmers’ markets across the country.