Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I want to thank you very much for what I consider a very thoughtful and observant article. However, as Director of this market, I must point out some things you might not be aware of concerning your EBS diagnosis.

Yes, we do have a whole lot of bakery! We have Springdale Farms, who operates a bakery to boost the viability of maintaining their working FARM and uses their own produce in items such as zucchini bread, tomato cheese pie, and more. Another bread bakery bakes local harvests, such as strawberries, into featured seasonal items. The two other independent family bakeries we feature call Collingswood home. It gives me great pleasure to offer them a venue that increases their market presence (no pun intended) when they can easily be lost to a region full of mass-producing, supermarket bakeries.

By complaining about the excessive bakeries we host, you may have just positively advertised that we have a lot of good stuff! Thanks.

To call non-farmers an ailment is a matter of opinion. I don't hear such a sentiment coming from regular shoppers, who are the foundation of our market's economy, or the farmers at the Market.

Thank you for highlighting four of our many growers, excellent picks. I love them too! I must point out we host at least a dozen additional agricultural participants (produce farms, orchards, beekeepers, flower farms, a dairy/meat farm, and nurseries) during a season. Please come again.

Betsy Cook, Director
Collingswood Farmers' Market.