Fun Fact #26: It’s National Farmer’s Market Week.

“My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher but every day, three times a day, you need a farmer.” – Brenda Schoepp, respected speaker, author, consultant, and mentor based in Canada.

Welcome to National Farmer’s Market Week!

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration:

“Entrepreneurs often use their local farmers markets as their first entry into the marketplace – with a low barrier to entry, new farmers and food entrepreneurs can start small and showcase new products. As we celebrate National Farmers Market Week, August 4-10, take the time to visit your local farmers market. Your support helps stimulate your local economy and generate jobs for your community. “

Here is a great tool to Find your nearest farmers market .

My great-grand parents were farmers.

As a child, I heard stories over and over again about life on the farm. Some sounded like so much fun and others conveyed a life of hard work with little time to be a kid until the snow fell. We need farmers and yet they are often left out of our mindset and preconceived notions of  what business-people look like.

Farmers are beyond business people. They are owners, operators, weathermen, animal doctors, and subject matter experts on everything from animal reproduction,  to crop growing, and life and death.

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

My plow is indeed a pencil and a laptop, and I work about 7 miles from a corn field. I am keenly aware of the work my local farmers perform each and every day and I rarely go without thanking them. Biting into a locally grown strawberry is utter heaven.

This week, visit a local farm or farmer’s market, engage with the farmer(s), if they are not too busy, and thank them for all that they do.  They are a wealth of information and without them, we will not be here for long.

Take note: Visit a local farm- we are a few short weeks away from apple and pumpkin season.

Fall is in the morning air.