To market, to market, to buy local goods

By Allison Arthur of The Leader
April 29, 2009

Fresh from an International Farmers Market conference last weekend in San Francisco, Port Townsend Farmers Market Manager Will O'Donnell was excited Monday about the market opening Saturday, May 2.

It was the farmers market that brought O'Donnell and his wife, Kate Dean, who is Small Farms program director for the Washington State University Extension in Port Hadlock, to Jefferson County a decade ago.

And it's the same farmers market - a market that has grown in that decade from 15 to 70 vendors and from $80,000 to $800,000 in annual sales - that is keeping the family in Jefferson County, in an Uptown home not far from the market.

While the worldwide economy might be in the doldrums, O'Donnell says the future of the farmers market is bright.

"Our success rate is off the charts, and that's due to the fantastic and enlightened community we have. We have the perfect demographics for a farmers market," he said of a community that is middle-aged, highly educated and interested in healthy foods. (Read More)