The farmers market revival in the US has become a very successful juggernaut, benefitting local farmers and local farm economies as well as boosting retail sales and services in areas where farmers markets occur. The latest farmers market in the Philadelphia area is proving to be one of the most successful: the Headhouse Square market boasts 28 vendors (some of our folks from the Oakmont Farmers Market participate!) and has rapidly become the social event of the week for residents of Society Hill.
According to Rick Nichols of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
“Just past 10 on a gray Sunday morning, Week Eight for the Head House Farmers’ Market was yawning awake, the White Lady peaches being propped primly on folding tables, sunflowers at sunny attention, turkey sausage sizzling in the centuries-old (and too-long-vacant) brick arcade that runs down the middle of Second Street at Lombard.
Almost 30 open-air markets have cropped up in the city in recent years. But this is another level of the game: Here you could see the impact of critical mass (28 producer-only vendors), the intersection of history and longing, the giddy joy of civic revival, and the opportunity to make – and if you aren’t careful, to spend – some serious money.
“Great cities deserve great markets,” recites Nicky Uy, the laid-back, on-site manager for the Food Trust, the market’s nonprofit sponsor.”
For the rest of the article, go to: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20070823_On_the_Side___In_Head_House__hearing_echoes_The_historic_farm_market_reclaims_its_glory_-_and_then_some_.html