September 24th, 2019
American Farmland Trust Announces Winners of the Farmers Market Celebration
Recognizing communities where local food thrives and elevating stories about the food that is ‘on your fork’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, American Farmland Trust is recognizing markets that made an impact. This past Friday marked the end of our 11th annual Farmers Market Celebration and with it the results of a summer-long effort to promote the importance of local food and the farmers behind it.
After months of participation and voting from thousands around the nation, the markets that received the most endorsements from their communities and shared stories of their impact on their local food system now have their deserved spotlight.
The Farmers Market Celebration once again garnered the attention of thousands of communities-turned-advocates for local food systems and the results are in. This year the voters crowned the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market the winner of the 2019 People’s Choice award.
“Troy, New York, is a small American city with a great big heart and a whole lot of pride,” said Zack Metzger, president of the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market, which is now in its 20th season. “This celebration gave our customers the opportunity to think about why family farmers matter. Clearly, they are proud of this market and what we have achieved in our 20 years and we are grateful for their support.”
The top voted markets in each region of the United States are:
Pacific: Kaka‘ako Farmers’ Market, Honolulu, Hawaii
Southwest: City of Dripping Springs Farmers Market, Dripping Springs, Texas
Midwest: Flint Farmers Market, Flint, Michigan
Southeast: Charlottesville City Market, Charlottesville, Virginia
Northeast: Troy Waterfront Farmers Market, Troy, New York
“The Farmers Market Celebration was designed to highlight the importance of our food choices and supporting farmers across the country. The markets that participated embody that wholeheartedly.” says Alex Johnson, AFT’s membership coordinator. “This year there were thousands of registered markets and so many communities wanted to showcase what made theirs special.”
The celebration is a national effort to promote the importance of local food and the role that agriculture plays in our communities while also raising awareness about the challenges facing America’s farmland and farmers.
Visit markets.farmland.org to read more about the celebration and participating markets. The Celebration ran from June 27, 2019, and results were announced Sept. 23, 2019.
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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.