I Love My Farmers Market Celebration marks the fifth year American Farmland Trust (AFT) has thrown a party for our nation’s farmers markets. They want eaters to pledge dollars we intend to spend at our farmers markets to highlight the pivotal role markets play in keeping farmers on their land.

We love this celebration for several reasons:

1. The first time a consumer pledges they will receive a No Farms No Food® bumper sticker, which rocks.
2. You can pledge every 24 hours (hint hint! Market managers!! hint hint!! set a reminder in your phone!!)
3. AFT’s goal is to receive 1 million dollars in pledges before the celebration concludes September 9, 2013. One pledge = A commitment to spend $10 at your farmers market that week.
4. Instead of being a competition between markets to see who will win a contest, it is a celebration of all markets to see who can raise the most amount of money. That feels very inclusive and kind to us.
5. Over an acre of farmland is lost a minute to development. Once land is paved over that’s it – no more tomatoes, or piggies, or wiggling your toes in the grass while chickens give themselves dustbaths in the sun. Since 1980, AFT is the only nonprofit dedicated to protecting farmland (check out their website, they really helped win federal $$ over the years for conservation easements and land banks).

The pledging process is very simple, simply fill out the information on lovemyfarmersmarket.org. Then set a reminder on your phone and pledge again (let’s put it this way, we find it difficult to spend just $10 at the farmers market.)

As AFT’s VP of External Affairs Susan Sink states, “I Love My Farmers Market Celebration is about celebrating the unique qualities of farmers markets throughout the nation and the important role that these markets play in keeping family farmers on the land.”

Cheers to keeping family farmers on their land and cheers to the role farmers markets play!! 

Cheering along,
The Real Time Farms Team