TAKES
Early framer of today’s farmers
markets, Gail Hayden speaks
of red tape, ripe fruit and the
origin of the foodie.
FARMERS MARKETS have been supplying towns and villages with fresh produce for
eons, with these lively bazaars feeding citizens worldwide as well as serving as social
institutions in the community. Thomas Jefferson reportedly bought his meat, eggs
and vegetables in the early 1800s at a Georgetown farmers market and billions of lessrenowned
individuals have historically relied on such operations. But unlike in Europe
and Asia, farmers markets in America dwindled away as industrialization rose, farms
got fewer and larger and bureaucracies interceded. Gail Hayden helped change that.
By Susan Hathaway Portraits by ANNAROSE MONROE
April/May 2019 49
