ANNAPOLIS, MD (August 5, 2011) – Governor Martin O\u2019Malley joins U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in proclaiming August 7 to August 13 as National Farmers\u2019 Market Week. Governor O\u2019Malley and Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance encourage consumers to visit a farmers\u2019 market in their area as a way of recognizing Farmers Market Week and supporting Maryland agriculture.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaryland\u2019s small- and medium-sized farms strengthen our local economies, benefit consumers, and improve the quality of life for our citizens,\u201d said Governor O\u2019Malley. \u201cEvery dollar spent on local products supports independent family farmers who contribute to the economic health of the community. Farmers\u2019 markets are increasingly popular sources of farm-fresh, locally grown, nutritious produce in towns across the state and the nation. Many communities find it rewarding to invest in local markets as a component of economic development and are realizing benefits from the resulting tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every county in Maryland and Baltimore City have at least one farmers\u2019 market where consumers can buy affordable farm-fresh, locally grown, healthy produce, plants and baked goods. And now is the time that Maryland\u2019s farmers are offering their freshest products at markets across the state.<\/p>\n
The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has made it easier for Marylanders to find farmers markets in their area by creating a search engine on the Maryland\u2019s Best website<\/a>. There are currently 137 markets across the state that are registered with Maryland\u2019s Best. Of those, 108 participate in the Farmers\u2019 Market Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, Children (\u201cWIC\u201d) and Seniors, which expands access to fresh local produce at local farmers markets.<\/p>\n \u201cFarmers\u2019 markets provide an important source of income for farmers as more and more consumers seek the freshness, quality, and wide selection of locally grown produce,\u201d said Secretary Hance.\u00a0 \u201cThey also serve as integral links between urban, suburban and rural communities. By talking one-on-one with farmers, consumers can learn about fresh produce including preparation and storage tips. Consumers also develop a bond of trust in the integrity and accountability of our growers.\u201d<\/p>\n This year National Farmers\u2019 Market Week follows soon after the Maryland Buy Local Challenge week, which Governor O\u2019Malley kicked off with a Buy Local Cookout at Government House in July. During the Challenge Week, Marylanders pledge to eat at least one locally grown product every day. MDA hopes that consumers will continue to eat local every day throughout farmers\u2019 market week and beyond, taking advantage of the fresh summer produce available from Maryland farmers.<\/p>\n For information on farmers\u2019 markets in your area, visit www.marylandsbest.net <\/a>or call 410-841-5770. Follow MDA on Twitter @MdAgDept<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ANNAPOLIS, MD (August 5, 2011) – Governor Martin O\u2019Malley joins U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in proclaiming August 7 to August 13 as National Farmers\u2019 Market Week. Governor O\u2019Malley and Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance encourage consumers to visit a farmers\u2019 market in their area as a way of recognizing Farmers Market Week and Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[915],"class_list":["post-687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-farmers-market"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":688,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions\/688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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