America’s Favorite Farmers Market was the Saturday morning place to be in Rockford. Photo by Cliff Hill
by CLIFF AND NANCY HILL
Where has summer gone? It’s hard to believe there’s only two Saturdays left in the Rockford Farm Market season.
It has been a roller-coaster year for the market from the outset. New vendors clamored to climb on board in order to ride the coattails of its popularity. At the same time regular vendors struggled with supply problems caused by unprecedented spring warmth, followed by severe frosts that lead into a summer of extreme heat and drought.
Through it all, our wonderful farmers prevailed and somehow managed to bring an abundant supply of local West Michigan produce to market each and every Saturday morning. Crowds swelled and attendance was up overall.
Your reporters have been tracking this year’s America’s Favorite Farmers Contest sponsored by the American Farmland Trust. (http://action.farmland.org)
Having last year been voted America’s Favorite Farm Market, the Rockford Farm Market did not participate in this year’s contest. In breathing the rarified air of that lofty status, why bother again?
At the same time, we are more than happy to report that the overall winner of the 2012 America’s Favorite Farmers Market Contest only garnered a total of 3,061 votes. In winning the contest last year, the Rockford Farm Market “harvested” 6,083 votes, a here-to-fore record total that we believe will never be broken.
So there you have it folks, feel proud as we lay claim to still being the undisputed and undefeated “America’s Favorite Farmers Market”.
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