Saving the world, one tomato at a time

The Cape Region is now home to three busy farmers markets, in Rehoboth, Lewes and Milton. For one day a week, our towns overflow with fresh, locally grown produce, flowers and blooming plants as well as ice cream, seafood, meats and farm fresh eggs.

Visitors might also find local honey, ice cream, seafood, meats, farm fresh eggs and even baby chicks as they stroll among the tents.

In Lewes, this year’s opening day attendance of more than 3,200 customers, not including children, broke all records, not only for opening day but for the market. Just last week, in Rehoboth Beach, many vendors were sold out before the 4 p.m. close.

Visitors and locals alike are flocking to the markets, which have become more than a place to find lettuce or radishes.

They are also becoming a new kind of Main Street, where visitors as well as locals can walk downtown, meet one another, learn a new recipe or two and at the same time reap the benefit of living in a region that has ideal growing conditions for all kinds of foods.

Buying locally produced foods means someone has to be growing it, contributing directly to the local economy.  It also means purchasers can talk directly to producers to find out how their food is grown and learn about local efforts to promote sustainable, environmentally friendly farming practices.

As farmers talk about their efforts to produce food and consumers seek out best practices, together we are weaving a fabric of community responsibility and trust that binds us all  closer in healthier, more caring communities.

In a world of increasing global anonymity, complex worldwide economies and social relationships that exist via the internet, the rapid growth of our farmers markets attests to a growing public desire to know where our food comes from and how it’s produced and to honor the people who are producing it, not just with cash but also with a smile of recognition.

By promoting local production and local purchasing and adding education on related local issues, farmers markets are at the heart of rebuilding the spirit of community that has for so long been a hallmark of life in the Cape Region.