Now Available: 2011 Maryland Farmers Market Directory

ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 20, 2011) –  The 2011 Maryland Farmers’ Market Directory listing locations and hours of each of the state’s markets is now available through the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) website.  This year, some 120 markets will be open with at least one in every county and Baltimore City. Many of the farmers’ markets in the state are already open and offering early season produce and plants such as kale, salad greens, spinach, asparagus, strawberries, hanging flower baskets, bedding plants and garden seedlings.  Farmers’ market locations, hours, and producer/vendor and product listings are also available on the Maryland’s Best website.

“At farmers’ markets across the state, customers can purchase a wide variety of locally-grown and -produced products including fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, plants, eggs, meats, baked goods and cheeses,” said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance.  “Customers can enjoy some of the freshest and best tasting local products, and in turn will directly support our family farmers, our environment, economy, and the health of our families.  Every dollar spent on local agricultural products contributes to the economic health of the community, keeps our land in farming, and helps to support a smart, green and growing future for Maryland agriculture.”
Farmers’ markets provide an important source of income for farmers and also provide the community with a meeting place where residents can catch up with each other while purchasing farm-fresh, nutritious, local products.  Customers have the opportunity to ask farmers how their products are grown or produced, how to prepare fresh produce and how to incorporate local products into their home-cooked meals, gardens, and landscaping.

Farmers’ markets have become increasingly popular as interest in purchasing fresh, local food and connecting directly with farmers who grow the food has risen.  In 1991, there were only 20 markets; there were 88 in 2008; 110 last year and 120 this year. In its 2009 Policy Choices Survey, the University of Baltimore Schaefer Center for Public Policy found that 77 percent of Marylanders want to buy produce that is identified as having been grown by a Maryland farmer.

About 300 farmers will participate in the farmers’ market nutrition program (FMNP) initiative which provides an additional source of income to farmers.  More than $485,000 in checks will be available for eligible women, infants, children (WIC – FMNP) through the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s local WIC offices and seniors (SFMNP) through the Maryland Department of Aging’s local senior centers to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, cut herbs and honey (for seniors only) at authorized farmers’ markets from June through October for the 2011 season. The program is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is administered by MDA in partnership with the Maryland Departments of Aging and Health and Mental Hygiene.

Click here to view the 2011 Farmers’ Market Directory. The 2011 Maryland Farmers’ Market Directory print version is now available from MDA’s Marketing Division at 50 Harry S. Truman Parkway in Annapolis, 410-841-5770.