After hearing about it from friends and relatives, I visited Your Dekalb Farmers Market on June 12. Although I bought produce there, unlike a lot of people I was not particularly impressed by this “farmer’s market.” This was my initial reaction, as posted on Facebook:

This place had fantastic variety but I’m sorry, when I hear “farmers market” I expect local produce. I’m not sure that a 20-mile round trip to buy carrots from Mexico reduces my carbon footprint all that much, and I saw no evidence of true organics, quality control or fair-labor requirements. I might as well just go to the grocery store.

One of the most important reasons to shop at a farmer’s market instead of a grocery store is because the food is local and you have a chance to interact directly with the farmer¹. This usually means better quality as well, and you can do a lot of useful quality control simply by asking the right kinds of questions.

It also reduces carbon footprint dramatically given that most produce travels thousands of miles before it’s sold². Having the food travel only a few miles is a significant difference of the kind that adds up over time. In addition, it supports the local economy and infrastructure³. Not to be isolationist, but right now, our economy can use all the support it can get.

There’s one additional benefit that I often don’t hear cited, and that’s the fact that local produce is only available in season. It’s not a big hobby of mine and I’m not a “foodie,” but I do like to cook. I find that limiting myself to in-season produce is a useful way to keep it interesting. It forces me to find ways to innovate, try new things, and thus expand my horizons a little bit — without introducing exotic ingredients that may be expensive or hard to find.

A “world market” such as YDFM⁴ isn’t a bad thing, but I don’t consider it to be a farmer’s market. Their idea and premise run completely counter to all of the benefits I list above.

They weren’t exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, that has left me still at the first step of my search for a proper, local and useful farmer’s market in the Atlanta area.

I think I got pretty spoiled by the NCDA&CS’ North Carolina State Farmer’s Market when I lived in Raleigh. Their requirements bias heavily in favor of in-state growers who represent themselves⁵. As a result, it’s a true local market where you buy direct from — and thus, can talk to — the farmer. It’s also huge, and I sometimes have to stop at an ATM on the way over and then tell myself that whatever cash I take out is my limit.

The Atlanta Farmers Market, on the other hand, sounds like it’s mostly wholesalers selling to local grocers; given that it’s in Forest Park I’ve not made the trek down there yet. I’ve already discussed Your Dekalb Farmers Market, and a long-ago visit to the Green Market at Piedmont Park was a bit of a disappointment (it was mostly locally processed goods such as jams and jellies).

That’s 0 for 3 in terms of batting average.

I’m not giving up, though. This is Georgia: we’re in the South. The agriculture-based economy in this region isn’t yet gone, and that means there are good farmer’s markets somewhere. I can’t believe that no Georgia farmers would take advantage the opportunities inherent in an urban area like Atlanta. I just need to figure out where they are.

1. http://quincyfarmersmarket.com/shopfarmersmarkets.aspx
2. http://www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles/
3. http://www.crescentcityfarmersmarket.org/index.php?page=why-buy-local
4. This is the tag line on their web site, and their conformance to this ideal is outstanding. So YDFM is exactly what it sets out to be, and they deserve kudos for that.
5. http://www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/facilities/markets/raleigh/2009-2010rfmGuidelines.pdf (PDF file)