Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

Farmers Market!!

December 26

In February of 2005 I wrote an article to find out how many people in the county were growing food items that could be sold at a farmers market and how many people were interested in shopping at a farmers market. It turned out that there were a lot of people yearning for a farmers market but not many people growing food items to sell. For all of you out there that want to shop at a farmers market I have great news, we will have a farmers market (with locally produced goods) opening up on January 14th at the Wickham Park Equestrian Center in Melbourne!

The Brevard County Farmers Market will be open every Thursday from 4-8 p.m. The market will run through most of April, close for a time through the summer months and then open again next fall and run weekly until the end of spring. At this time, the potential vendors could be selling organic fruits and vegetables, pies, cut flowers, poultry, honey, ornamental plants and bread. Since this is just the beginning, the potential for this farmers market to grow is huge.

Buying produce at a farmers market can be better than getting it from the grocery store for both consumers and growers alike. Consumers win because they can purchase fresher vegetables at a lower cost than they could at the grocery store.

The benefit for farmers is that they can get better prices for their produce than they can when they sell through a grocery store. This is a win-win situation since we can shop from a wide variety of locally grown, really fresh food and the farmers can actually make a profit and remain in business. Farmers markets really help the small farmers stay in business since they can have a hard time meeting the needs of grocery stores. Supermarket chains look for a large quantity of produce that is in production year-round and this is impossible for a small farmer to do.

Some grocery stores do buy some local produce but it depends on the location and the store manager. Typically, most grocery stores buy their produce in very large quantities and they buy through a central purchasing point.

Another benefit, for keeping our small farmers in business, is that a lot of the land on the fringes of our communities can be found in small farms. Their farms are protecting green space for all of us. When the farmers use good management practices, they protect the quality of the water and they provide habitat for wildlife.

Though we are known for our large-scale agriculture in the state Florida, more than 90% of the farms are actually considered small farms. The USDA’s definition of a small farm is an operation having less than $250,000 in gross annual farm income.

Just in case there are some small farmers who haven’t heard about the farmers market and are interested in joining, check out our website at http://brevard.ifas.ufl.edu/. In the left hand column, underneath the Horticulture heading, go to the bottom and you will find the link to the Brevard County Farmers Market where an application is available on-line.

If you have enjoyed shopping at farmers markets in the past then, come check out the Brevard County Farmers Market Thursday, January 14th from 4-8 p.m. The more support and business they get, the bigger they can grow!