Longmont Farmers Market

It was 6am and I was sitting in the passenger seat on the highway trying to make conversation with Audrey, the Longmont Farmers' Market assistant manager. I just wanted to talk about anything...anything that would take my mind off the next 12 hours or how I got to where I was going before the sun was up. Not too long ago, I applied for a manager-for-hire posting for the Longmont Farmers' Market after a few years farming and feeling old in Boulder County. I was enthusiastic enough to overcome my lack of management experience and was hired on to a pretty small market weighing in at about 35 vendors. That was 2 years ago. I was now driving up to the Boulder County Fairgrounds, the home of the Longmont Farmers' Market, to get ready to start preparing for a market that had doubled in just a couple years. 

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) reports that the number of farmers markets in the United States has grown 6.8% from 4,385  in August 2006 to 4,685 in August 2008. What they don't report is the expansion of existing markets, some in operation for decades like our market in Longmont, CO. Farmers' Markets offer small and mid-size farmers access to retail markets and opportunities for residents to learn where their food comes from and even how to prepare it. Some markets even host federal subsidy programs, like the Farmers Market Nutrition Program, that give low-income mothers and their young children access to healthier alternatives to the traditional cheap foods that are sometimes the only food options available on a tight budget and often lack any nutritional value.

Preparing for the opening day of the season is just as exciting as is it nerve-racking. We put the tents up, seats and tables out, turned on our credit card and EBT (food stamp) machines and prayed that the dark clouds moving in travel very, very slowly. The first of the vendors appeared and then the next and then another. Within an hour, we were in business! The customers began rolling in and everyone was delighted with the produce, the familiar faces, the new farms, and fabulous new tastes of local food artisans. We were able to add new vendors in part due to the new beginning farmer program sponsored by the market and hosted by our agriculture extension office and the fabulous market site improvements were funded by our county Parks and Open Space Dept. We are so fortunate to have county commissioners and parks directors who understand the value of local food production and access for our health, economy and quality of life. Our county invested $80,000 over the winter installing electricity, planting trees, and leveling dirt packed areas to make our giant open space a special event for everyone.

The learning curve has been steep, the failures have been many, but the successes have made the experience worth the struggle. If you are ever in Longmont/Boulder County area on a Saturday from 8am-2pm, stop by and say hello, enjoy freshly harvested crops of the Colorado season, and celebrate the culture of eating local.