ABSTRACT
It’s probably safe to say that the pleasures of farmers’ markets are familiar to most readers of this journal. Fans of food and farmers relish their weekly visits to church parking lots or town centers to peruse rare radishes, sample fresh berries, and stock up on corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers. We enjoy chatting with producers and knowing that these markets help small farmers to get by, or even to prosper. We also look forward to meeting up with friends, snacking, hearing music, and even, as one Louisville shopper commented, “seeing other people’s dogs.” Although this enactment of community occurs on weekend mornings in nearly every American city, inequalities of class and geography preclude many. In this essay, I examine the problems and prospects of establishing farmers’ markets that serve low-income customers.
