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Last week I joined Governor O’Malley and Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Buddy Hance for a cook-out at the Governor’s House in Annapolis, Maryland. What a blast! Along with 300 other guests, I sampled wonderful local foods prepared by 19 farmer-chef teams who were the winners in a state-wide...

Anyone who has shopped at a farmers market can appreciate the freshness of the food, the interaction with farmers, and the opportunity to learn how the food was produced. As an economist with the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), I’m also interested in what local food systems look like in the...

Where does your food come from and how does it get to your plate? For many Americans this is a question that is becoming more and more difficult to answer as they become further removed from the farm and less connected to agriculture. The hard work that goes into producing our nation’s food supply...

The Colorado Farmers Market Association, the City Heights Open Air & Certified Farmers Market in San Diego, Calif. and Greenmarket in New York City did it with help of the Farmers Market Promotion Program.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA's rich science and research portfolio. By Michael Hand, Economist, Economic Research Service Anyone who has shopped at a farmers market on a weekend morning...

By Peter Rhee, Creative Media Director for USDA’s Office of Communications With the first day of summer just around the corner, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan rang the ceremonial cowbell today, signaling the beginning of the 2010 USDA Summer Farmers Market season. With extra help from the...

The USDA is ready to kick off another season of its outdoor farmers market and it has a star-studded schedule planned for market visitors. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan will lead the June 4 opening ceremony of the USDA Farmers Market with the help of celebrity chef Eric Ziebold...

Beth McKew, DVM, Staff Officer, State Outreach and Technical Assistance Staff, Office of Outreach, Employee Education and Training, Food Safety and Inspection Service

Today, driving out to visit the Castillo farm in Plant City, Florida, Secretary Tom Vilsack and his staff took a moment to stop at a roadside stand selling a wide variety of local produce.

The USDA National Farmers Market Directory, affectionately called the “farmers market census” has extended its deadline for receiving information about the country’s farmers markets through June 4. In 2009, the USDA counted over 5,200 operational farmers markets in the country.