Main Street mom and pops shops have taken a big hit in the past few decades. There is no single reason but, rather, several significant changes that impacted Small Town America. The development of Interstate highways paved over farmland and rerouted traffic away from Main Street. Homes became bigger and bigger, making way for storage of bulk purchases, which created a (perceived) need for warehouse and big box stores. Bulk and mass produced goods cost less and, quite frankly, we got what we paid for. These cultural shifts probably nurtured many psycho-social changes making it much easier for us to disconnect from our product sources, but I won't go into that here since, ultimately, I want to talk about farmers' markets.

One of the most disconcerting resulting issues is consumers (you and me) are often far removed from the processes that bring our goods to market, and we no longer associate a person with the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the flowers we grow in our gardens. Not only do we not associate a name or face with the things we buy, most of us don't even think about it.

I strongly believe that farmers' markets are one way we can take back our community, restore Mom & Pop's livelihood (and now many of my friends are Mom & Pop!), and, once again, put a name and face with the products we take home. It is a way - a simple and fun way - to teach our children and grandchildren where food and other goods come from and enables all of us to make educated, healthy product choices while connecting with community on a more personal level even if for just a few minutes each week. We've all heard the drill. Buy fresh. Buy local. It is good for our economy, our social and business networks, our communities, and our physical health. It's good for you. It's good for me. It's true.