Tag: farmers markets

Since the beginning of commerce, food distribution has been a strictly regional process. Farmers, butchers, bakers and what-have-you would come together at an established place and time, and consumers would meet them there. That’s the way it was, anyway, until innovations like interstate highways and refrigerated tractor-trailers and airplanes brought the world’s delicacies to us, vastly improving our lives in some ways but also disconnecting us from our land and neighbors in others.

Next spring at the farmers markets, you might notice some signage changes behind a few of your favorite farmers. One highly respected young farmer, Rachel Tali Kaplan, is leaving town, prompting a wave of moves.

Field Notes (To receive our local foods column and other culinary tidbits directly in your inbox, sign up for our weekly dining newsletter.) The transition is nearly complete. Just a few weeks ago, area farmers markets were still brimming with late summer’s bounty: beans, eggplants, basil. Now, those crops are increasingly rare, and instead stands are displaying winter squash, dark leafy greens, turnips.

Beware the Coconut Stand at the Local Farmers MarketA few Saturdays ago at a local farmers market, I realized that the stand where I had just bought a bag of green beans had no sign.