National Farmers' Market Week- Aug 2 through Aug 8

NOFA Vermont to Celebrate National Farmers’ Market Week

Richmond – National Farmers’ Market Week will be celebrated August 2nd-8th with NOFA Vermont and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets coordinating events at markets statewide. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has declared the first week of August National Farmers’ Market week in honor of farmers markets’ impact on health, communities, and the local economy.

Pizza to the People: the Farmers’ Market Tour will feature NOFA Vermont’s mobile wood-fired oven serving up fresh pizzas at a different market every day throughout the week. With dough from local restaurants, cheese from area producers, and farm-fresh toppings from each market, NOFA Vermont is giving away free pizza across Vermont in recognition of all farmers’ markets do for our communities. A complete tour schedule is below.

In an effort to include every market in the events over this week, NOFA Vermont is also hosting Buy It, Cook It, Film It: The Farmers’ Market Film Challenge. The film competition invites people from all over Vermont to document why they love their farmers’ market by asking contestants to film themselves shopping at their local farmers’ market, cooking the produce, and eating the dish. Videos will be posted to YouTube and will be judged by Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee and Enid Wonnacott, Executive Director of NOFA Vermont. The top three submissions will receive a Farmers’ Market Prize Package, complete with a cutting board from the J.K. Adams Company of Dorset, a subscription to EatingWell Magazine of Charlotte, and organic products from five organic producers around Vermont. Rules and entry instructions online at www.nofavt.org

Other special events are taking place at markets across the state. For a full schedule, please visit www.nofavt.org

Since the USDA started National Farmers Market Week in 2000, the number of farmers markets nationwide has grown more than 60%, from 2,863 markets in 2000 to 4,685 in 2008. Vermont continues to lead the nation in farmers’ markets per capita. Over this 8-year period the number of Vermont Farmers’ Markets has grown almost 90%, from 37 markets in 2000 to over 70 this summer. Sales have followed a similar trend: with 75% of markets reporting last year, they reached an all-time high of $5,660,220.

Pizza to the People Tour
Sunday, August 2nd: Dorset Farmers' Market
10 am - 2 pm at H.N. Williams Hardware Store on Rte.30

Monday, August 3rd: Bethel Farmers' Market
3 - 6 pm at Bethel Band Shell Common
Tom Beardsley of WDEV will be broadcasting live.

Tuesday, August 4th: Burlington Old North End Farmers' Market,
3 - 6:30 pm at H.O. Wheeler School.

Wednesday August 5th: Middlebury Farmers' Market
9 am - 12:30 pm at Marble Works
A chef from the Waybury Inn provides a cooking demonstration.

Thursday, August 6th: Jericho Mills Riverside Farmers' Market
3 - 6:30 pm at Mills Riverside Park, Rte 15
A children's musician will perform.

Friday, August 7th: Lyndon Farmers' Market
3 - 7 pm, Bandstand Park on Rte 5
A dog agility demonstration will accompany the market.

Saturday August 8th: Capital City Farmers' Market
9 am - 1 pm at 60 State St in Montpelier
Attractions include a pizza cooking competition and llamas