I'm a volunteer for my local community's farmers' market. This is my second year, but I have taken a much more active role this year, coordinating much of our Wednesday night market and coordinating a farm dinner event later this month. Since I finished the school year and started summer break last week, this has seemed like a part time, almost full time job. But being there for the market last night, in 95 degree heat, it felt well worth it.
I believe strongly in buying locally sourced and grown products. Being vegetarian, I'm of course seeking a lot of good variety of vegetables, and there's no place else to find them but a farmers' market. One of the strongest draws though is the sense of community created. So often these days, there is little or no sense of community, or neighborly connection. Everyone goes on about their busy lives and too many live to work, rather than working to live. At the market, there are the regulars that come through, stop to visit, let me pet their dogs, chat about their lives or just how hot it is in mid-June. All the vendors that participate in our market have a story- one that often entails significantly hard work and dedication. They are passionate about what they do, what they grow and how they grow it. That passion flows in abundance to our customers and creates connections to be found no where else.
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