Vote For Favorite Farmers Market
PHIT newsletter
Farmer Markets are HUGE in Texas. Texas has 150 of these fun-filled community affairs.
Help your favorite Farmers Market take bragging rights and even more important—$5000.
Vote in the 16th annual America’s Farmers Market Celebration™, presented by @AmericanFarmlandTrust.
Farmers Markets bring locally grown, fresh food to thousands of Texans every week. Consumers connect with farmers and ranchers directly in a fun-packed community event. Consumers get to ask, “How do you grow this? Can I grow it in my garden? What is the best way to cook this?”
Farmers Markets also builds support for family farms. Farmers Markets provide a venue for consumers to buy from those farmers every week. It is a venue that respects their work and teaches consumers how to prepare delicious meals with locally grown fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy.
VOTE Soon… July 31, cast your vote. Remember to tell your friends and family to vote too!
When you’re choosing your favorite market, be sure to check whether they accept vouchers (SNAP) from low-income consumers.
This is a program that makes fresh and local vegetables and produce available to low-income consumers. It is now generally available throughout the country, but it was pioneered by the Texas Department of Agriculture under Jim Hightower in the 1980’s.
Kate Fitzgerald, who ran the very first pilot program in Texas, estimates that today, “between $22 and $24 million dollars in SNAP is spent in farmers markets around the country”.
In 2024, the Farmland Trust Celebration of Farmers Markets will award $15,000 in total cash awards to the top five markets in America--$5,000 for first, $2,500 for second, $1,500 for third, $750 for fourth, $250 for fifth, and $100 to first in each state. These funds will be awarded to markets for marketing, communications, and other needs that help expand the market’s reach and impact.
Ann Sorenson, whose trailblazing efforts at the Texas Department of Agriculture under Jim Hightower helped battle imported fire ants, now works at the American Farmland Trust.
For 16 consecutive years, the Trust has run the Celebration, which highlights the increasingly essential role Farmers Markets play in providing communities with access to fresh, locally grown food and connecting farmers directly with their customers.
The awards will be announced during National Farmers Markets Week August 4-10th. Learn more about the history of farmers markets in Texas on the PHIT blog.
So VOTE NOW. Do Not Delay.