Dakotafire Get your spark here.
A group working on starting a farmers market in Britton asked the community if they would support such an effort, and they received a very positive response, according to a story published in the Britton Journal.
“Survey respondents and the community in general have been overwhelmingly supportive of the market concept with a number of potential vendors already expressing interest,” said Paulette Kelsey, one of the market organizers.
The market would be called the Greater Britton Country Market. Present plans for the weekly market feature home-grown or home-made items and food, music, and fun for the entire family. Hopes are that a city park setting, with late afternoon and early evening hours from mid-June through mid-September, will entice families to picnic, visit with friends, and shop for locally grown season produce, fresh baked and canned goods, and unique arts and crafts.
This initiative in Britton is part of a larger trend of new or revived farmers markets nationwide. The last official count of farmers markets nationwide by the USDA is 7,175 in mid 2011, which is a 17 percent increase from 2010.
South Dakota has more than three dozen farmers markets, according to the S.D. Department of Agriculture. In North Dakota, 35 farmers markets were members of the North Dakota Farmers Market Association in 2011; the USDA has 60 farmers markets listed for North Dakota. (The site also has a nice mapping feature: See the map for North Dakota farmers markets here and the map for South Dakota farmers markets here.)
Both the national and state numbers are likely undercounts that don’t include some farmers markets in smaller communities.
