YAY!
THIRD ANNUAL ST. MATTHEWS FARMERS’ MARKET
BEGINS MAY 16, 2009
Louisville, Kentucky (May 5, 2009) – The popular St. Matthews Farmers’ Market, located in the heart of St Matthews at Beargrass Christian Church, 4100 Shelbyville Road, will begin its third season on Saturday, May 16th from 8 am until 12 noon. The weekly market takes place each Saturday through September 26th.
The St. Matthews Farmers’ Market features high quality food and products from local producers. Weekly special events include a range of live music, cooking demonstrations, delicious market foods such as omelets, wraps, muffins, scones, bar-b-que, burgers, gelato, popcorn, and shaded picnic tables. Plastic bags are minimized to create an environmentally-friendly community gathering place. Sorry, pets are not allowed (except service dogs). Volunteers from Beargrass Christian Church direct traffic in and out of the parking lot and assist customers at the market. Visit http://www.beargrass.org/market/ for the 2009 St. Matthews Farmers’ Market calendar of events and to sign up for the enewsletter.
“With over 60 vendors, our market has become the largest Farmers’ Market in Louisville,” said Bob Callander, Committee Chair. “We are proud to support the local farmers and producers. Our success has been the catalyst to create additional Farmers’ Markets, such as this year’s new Westport Village Farmers’ Market.”
The Louisville Farmers’ Market Association now has 24 Farmers’ Markets as members. According to the Regional Farmers Market Feasibility Study 2008 Final Report: Building the Local Food Economy, Louisville, Kentucky, by Market Ventures, Inc./Karp Resources 7/17/2008, The number of farmers’ markets in Kentucky has tripled over the past 10 years and farmers’ markets account for about one-quarter of all Kentucky farm fruit and vegetable sales. The greater Louisville 23 county region contains 20,014 farms, or 23% of the state’s total. A significant goal of the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement is to increase the number of people in the Louisville Metro who eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. The growth of area Farmers’ Markets will help to achieve that goal.
According to the Business Week, May 20, 2008 article, The Rise of the ‘Localvore’, The rise of farmers' markets—in city centers, college towns, and rural squares—is testament to a dramatic shift in American tastes…It's a movement that is gradually reshaping the business of growing and supplying food to Americans. The local food movement has already accomplished something that almost no one would have thought possible a few years back: a revival of small farms. After declining for more than a century, the number of small farms has increased 20% in the past six years, to 1.2 million, according to the Agriculture Dept.