Jax Daily

Farmers markets are booming business locally, as people are putting a greater emphasis on buying fresh and locally grown fruits and vegetables. The Jacksonville Farmers Market on Beaver Street has filled all of its vendor slots and is now looking to expand. And other local markets are doing well in Fernandina, Neptune Beach, and Flagler County.

Now the problem is finding local growers to supply venues since farmers have been pushed further and further away due to real estate development and zoning laws.

The Jacksonville Business Journal reports…

The farmers market on Beaver Street has been in virtually the same location for three-quarters of a century, but other area farmers markets that haven’t been around as long are also expanding hours and locations. New markets are sprouting up as interest grows in food that is locally grown and, in many cases, less expensive than that sold in traditional grocery stores.

Beaches native Gretchen Ferrell helped spearhead the Beaches Green Market in November 2007. It started in the parking lot of Twisted Sisters restaurant in Jacksonville Beach, but quickly ran out of space and relocated its 15 vendors to Jarboe Park in Neptune Beach.

Ferrell, who also sells herbs from her home garden, said the growing popularity of farmers markets is likely due in part to rising fuel and food prices, along with nutritional and environmental concerns and a growing desire by consumers to know where their food was grown.

Along with the Beaches farmers market, the Fernandina Farmers Market is also new and the Flagler Beach Farmers Market recently extended its hours from Friday mornings only to Friday and Saturday mornings. There is an effort, led in part by steering committee members of the St. Johns Riverkeeper, Executive Director Jimmy Orth and U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw’s wife, Kitty, to start another farmers market in the Riverside area this fall.

Orth said that while farmers markets might be trendy now, as food prices continue to rise, they will likely become a necessity.

“You’re going to start seeing more of this,” he said.

The problem is that there are not enough local farm vendors, Orth said, so the markets have to be careful not to all schedule the same days of the week.

“This highlights the challenge,” Orth said. “There’s a growing interest in local agriculture, but you need more farmers to meet the demand.”

The Riverside market organizers are considering a midweek evening market or possibly combining forces with another effort to organize a farmers market at the base of the Fuller Warren Bridge.

To expand the short supply of local vendors, the University of Florida Extension Service office in Duval County offered a class in January called Growing Growers. The class taught large landowners how to diversify their holdings by growing crops. Based on continued interest, extension agent Brad Burbaugh intends to offer the class again in the fall.

“It’s good for small farmers; it’s good for small businesses,” Burbaugh said.

Kitty Crenshaw is excited about the growing momentum of farmers markets.

“They are all about taking the time to enjoy life with family and friends around really fresh, delicious, affordable food in a festive atmosphere while getting to know our neighbors, encouraging our local farmers and dramatically conserving fuel and our environment,” Crenshaw wrote in an e-mailed response. “Farmers markets are a win-win for all.”