The History of Farmers Markets

The first farmers markets technically originated in Egypt over 5,000 years ago when farmers along the Nile brought their fresh produce to be sold. Today there are farmers markets all over the world with the smallest ones being no more than 3-4 vendors selling their fresh produce to the largest one in the world in Tokyo, Japan which has over 1,700 stalls! Farmers markets are defined as common facilities where several or more producers gather on a regular basis usually on a regular schedule to sell fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, flowers, bakeries and prepared foods. They are in essence direct to consumer locations from the producers thereby cutting out the middleman such as supermarkets and markets. The most important criteria to be considered a farmers market is that goods are produced locally and vendors sell their own products. The Redmond Farmers Markets are unique in that sell many organic produced products that are fresh.

In America, informal markets have been around since the early settlers in Jamestown. The modern farmer markets that have tents lined up in rows with tables and common eating areas started in the 19th century by the city owned High Street Market in Philadelphia. A major shift in the 20th century saw the municipal owned farmers markets gradually shift to private control. The Pacific Northwest region is home to the most successful farmers markets today with Pike Place Market in Seattle and of course the Redmond Farmers Markets in Redmond, Washington and Redmond, Oregon.

The number of farmers markets have grown steadily over the past century and saw large rise in the past two decades as seen in the chart below. sAccording to the United States Department of Agriculture the number has risen 300% in a 14 year span from 1994 to 2008 to 4,685 as more communities partake in the trade. The USDA reported a whopping 20% growth in 2009 to 5,274. That number is expected to level off the past several years but projected to grow at a healthy 10% rate per annum. Of course the Redmond Farmers Market has been well established and has grown even faster by number of vendors.

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