Guest: Jerry Pepitone, Pipitone Farm, Rock Island, WA

Michael Olson Food Chain Radio – Farmers Market and A Fight for the Right to Sell Food

Jerry Pipitone has been establishing and operating farmers markets throughout the State of Washington for decades. Then he ran up against a city mayor that said, “No!”

And so the fight is on for the right to sell food, and that leads us to ask: Should farmers be required to get government approval to sell food to friends and neighbors?

Not too long ago, most all of us lived on the food we harvested from the farm. It was rustic living, and our food was rustic as well. But we endured it. Then we moved into the city and discovered white bread wrapped in plastic bags, and it was cheap! With this cheap food, we had more time to laze about and watch TV.

But then, some among us came to the realization that the cheap food we were eating really wasn’t cheap at all, and the extra TV time it provided us was not making us all happier. So they did something remarkable. They brought farmers, and their foods, into the city, and city people began regaining their hunger for the rustic foods that made them happy and healthy.

For the most, cities welcomed the farmers markets, as they brought life back to their concrete jungles. But some cities did not welcome the farmers markets, and so the fight is on for the right for farmers to sell their food.