Coconut Point Green Market

Long before chain grocery stores and bulk food emporiums, community members gathered once or twice a week in local and regional markets. Often held in town centers, these markets provided a place to buy or barter for goods and services. And yet, these gatherings also offered something far more vital: They gave community members a chance to reconnect with friends and the opportunity to catch up on the town’s news—or to hear the news and stories from merchants who had traveled great distances. Markets brought together locals and visitors alike in a convivial environment of wafting pastry aromas and carts colored by the array of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Today, this tradition survives in the farmer’s market. Thriving throughout the country, farmer’s markets bring quality produce fresh from the fields into the hearts and hearths of the city; they provide a profitable forum for local farmers and artisans to sell the fruits of their labors; and, perhaps most importantly, these markets create a social opportunity for each and every one of us to come together—every week—and share a little of ourselves with our neighbors.