7-5-12 Local Farmers are contributing to a new business model

One of the most noticeable elements of living on Whidbey Island is the abundance of locally grown fresh, healthy food.  I’ve enjoyed shopping in the farmers markets ever since I experienced my first summer of food abundance here.  I had simply thought this was a charming quality of life on Whidbey Island.

Then I read this amazing article in a recent NY Times:

Small Farmers Creating a New Business Model as Agriculture Goes Local

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/us/small-scale-farmers-creating-a-new-profit-model.html

The article was published on July 2, and even though it is in the New York Times, the dateline is Seattle.

This was the first quote that grabbed me:

“The movement toward local food is creating a vibrant new economic laboratory for American agriculture. The result, with its growing army of small-scale local farmers, is as much about dollars as dinner: a reworking of old models about how food gets sold and farms get financed, and who gets dirt under their fingernails doing the work.”

…and this:

“A study last fall by the Department of Agriculture said that local (farm) revenues had been radically undercounted in previous analyses that mainly focused on road stands and markets. When sales to restaurants and stores were factored in, the study said, the local food industry was four times bigger than in any previous count, upward of $4.8 billion.”

So, when we visit our local farmers markets, purchase local foods in our Whidbey Island grocery stores, buy foods from stands, or eat in restaurants that tout local produce, besides reaping the benefits of delicious, organic produce, meats and other healthy foods, we can feel good that we are supporting a burgeoning new business model right in our own backyard. 

Here are the current Farmers Markets that we can support (heading from south to north):

• Clinton, Thursday, 4:00 – 7:30 PM
• Bayview, Saturday, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Langley, Friday, 3:00 – 7:00 PM
• South Whidbey (Tilth), Sunday, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Greenbank Farm, Sunday, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
• Coupeville, Saturday, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Oak Harbor, Thursday, 4:00  – 7:00 PM