When Too Many Farmers' Markets Are Too Much of a Good Thing

Few locations are such a natural fit for farmers' markets as Orange County—but the number of certified farmers' markets in the county are shrinking and others are struggling.

1 minute read

October 7, 2015, 1:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Anthony Clark Carpio reports that farmers' markets have oversaturated Orange County in California. " Farmers markets can be found in almost every nook and cranny of Southern California. Orange County has 36 state-certified farmers markets, which is down from 42 tallied last year by the California Department of Food and Agriculture," according to Clark Carpio.

Donna Barnes, deputy agricultural commissioner for the state agency in Orange County, is even on the record saying, "Orange County may be oversaturated with farmers markets, which is evidenced by the number of markets that have opened and closed…"

The rest of the article describes the challenges of the business of farmers' markets, focusing especially on examples from Huntington Beach, which currently offers three certified markets throughout the week.

Saturday, October 3, 2015 in Los Angeles Times

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