mdl design

Farmers Market conjures up images of fresh tomatoes, bundles of leafy greens, rugged farmers selling their produce, families with reusable tote bags, a pint of blackberries, the ones that are just sweet with no inkling of bitterness. The Farmers Market conjures up an image of affluence of the new gilded city; people who can afford to spend $14 on two pounds of cherries, $10 on a loaf of bread, $13 on a small wedge of cheese. Farmers Markets seem to be appearing in more and more neighborhoods in more and more cities. Where did this boom of Farmers Markets come from? What space does the Market occupy? Who has access to the space of Farmers Markets? What does it mean to have access to the Farmer Market? The contemporary Farmers Market is formed out of the demise of the American public markets which left an authenticity vacuum in the American food system in the last half of the 20th century. The Farmers Market occupies a unique thirdspace, that is built and influenced by the administrators, vendors, and consumers. This space holds unique economic and social interaction and capital that are foreign to the broader American social and economic structures, and the American food system.