American Farmland Trust Kicks Off 18th Annual America’s Farmers Market Celebration With $15,000 in Prizes
Washington, DC – American Farmland Trust (AFT) kicks off the 18th annual America’s Farmer’s Market Celebration™ (AFMC) today, spotlighting farmers markets as essential community infrastructure where people connect with local agriculture, support farmers and small businesses, and strengthen the land, food, and local economies that sustain them.
Since 2008, AFMC has highlighted the critical role farmers markets play in communities across the nation while celebrating the farmers, staff, and volunteers that make them possible. While they have long served as pillars of local food in urban centers and town squares, in recent years, farmers’ markets have gained the national recognition they deserve as essential businesses that power farmers and communities to thrive.
"Farmers markets are more than places to shop—they are essential infrastructure for local agriculture, helping farm families earn a living and keeping communities connected to the land that sustains them,” said John Piotti, AFT President and CEO. “Through America’s Farmers Market Celebration, AFT is lifting up the markets, farmers, vendors, and community members who prove that investing in local agriculture delivers benefits far beyond the market day."
The 18th annual AFMC runs Aug. 1 - Sept. 30 on markets.farmland.org. The event is a fun celebration that helps farmers markets across the country earn national recognition and local prestige. Markets can join the celebration and encourage their customers to vote, an excellent marketing tool and a pathway to winning a piece of the $15,000 prize pool.
AFT will award ten markets nationwide winners this year, and the breakdown of prize money is as follows: $2,500 for first, $2,000 for second, $1,500 for third, $1,250 for fourth, $1,000 for fifth-eighth, and $875 for ninth-tenth. The first place for “regional choice” and “state” winners for each region will receive a gift bag of merchandise and digital award package.
The top markets also receive national and local press coverage, complimentary American Farmland Trust membership, No Farms No Food® gear, and other merchandise!
The AFMC also identifies the top markets in each state and in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and Pacific regions.
“Being named the #1 Farmers Market in America has been an incredible honor and an unforgettable milestone for our community,” said Nicole Hackel, Lakewood Ranch Farmers’ Market Events and Resident Experience Manager. “Over the past year, we've welcomed new visitors from across the country who wanted to experience the market for themselves, while continuing to see the unwavering support of our local community. The recognition has shined a national spotlight on our amazing vendors, strengthened our mission to support small businesses, and reinforced what we've always known, that the Farmers' Market at Lakewood Ranch is so much more than a place to shop. It's a place where neighbors connect, families gather, and our community comes to life every Sunday. We're incredibly grateful to everyone who voted, visited, and continues to make our market part of their Sunday tradition.”
The AFMC database and interactive map on markets.farmland.org contains more than 7,000 listings and allows anyone in America to find local farmers markets wherever they live or visit.
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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 its founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farming and ranching families.
