According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey, there
are about 830 markets in the state. That's up almost 100 from
last year.
Kathleen Merrigan with the USDA says the economy and the
demand for fresh, healthy food have caused a 10-percent increase in
markets nationwide, "We know that we need to grow the number
of farmers in this country -with the aging of the American farmer-
and one way to do that is to make sure that people have stepping
stones into American agriculture and farmer's markets is a great
way to start "
Merrigan says some of the increased demand for farmer's
markets has come about because of increased access for the
poor. The USDA has equipped about one-third of the
nation's markets with the ability to accept EBT cards for food
stamps recipients.
There are nearly 7900 markets nationwide.
