Serious Eats
Farmers' Market Burnout
The San Francisco Chronicle reports on Bay area farmers and farmers' market burnout after two major departures from the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market, Terra Firma and Andy Griffin and Julia Wiley of Mariquita.
While these departures may just be part of the regular business life cycle, farmers' markets are becoming more competitive marketplaces with more farmers offering the same goods, as well as a diluted market, thanks to the proliferation of so many farmers' markets. The question is, how does the current farmers' market business model scale, if at all? Some farmers are adapting by shifting more of their business to a CSA model, while others are branching out into unique crops.