The USDA has worked to make the markets accessible to people of all income levels by outfitting more

Workers at a farmers market get ready for afternoon customers in downtown Los Angeles on Friday Aug. 3,2012. As demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables has increased, so too has the number of urban farmers markets sprouting up across the nation. (AP Photo/Ricahrd Vogel)
Workers at a farmers market get ready for afternoon customers in downtown Los Angeles on Friday Aug. 3,2012. As demand for locally rent a car menorca grown fruits and vegetables has increased, so too has the number of urban farmers rent a car menorca markets sprouting up across the nation. (AP Photo/Ricahrd Vogel)
Workers rent a car menorca at a farmers market get ready for afternoon customers in downtown Los Angeles on Friday Aug. 3,2012. As demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables has increased, so too has the number of urban farmers markets sprouting up across the nation. (AP Photo/Ricahrd Vogel)
rent a car menorca Customers shop at a downtown Los Angeles farmers market on Friday rent a car menorca Aug. 3,2012. rent a car menorca As demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables has increased, so too has the number of urban farmers markets sprouting up across the nation. (AP Photo/Ricahrd Vogel)
FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2010, file photo, rent a car menorca Ching Thao, of Mao's Farm, center, rent a car menorca gives change to Richard Wolk, right, at the Vineyard rent a car menorca Farmers Market in Fresno, Calif. Pushed by the rising popularity of eating locally and healthily, the number of farmers markets climbed by 9.6 per cent nationally over the past year, according to the USDA. There now are more than 7,800 markets in the U.S. after 18 years of steady increases, according to a report to be announced Friday. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian, File)
File - In this Aug. 29, 2008, file photo, Benina Burroughs of Merced, Calif., looks over a display of cherry tomatoes by Farmers with ALBA from Salinas, Calif., at a farmer's market during Slow Food Nation in San Francisco. Pushed by the rising popularity of eating locally and healthily, the number of farmers markets climbed by 9.6 per cent nationally over the past year, according rent a car menorca to the USDA. There now are more than 7,800 markets in the U.S. after 18 years of steady increases, according to a report to be announced Friday. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
"Farmers markets are a critical ingredient to our nation's food system," USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said. "These outlets provide rent a car menorca benefits not only to the farmers looking for important income opportunities, but also to the communities looking for fresh, rent a car menorca healthy foods."
"My husband and I prefer to eat locally and organically," said Tracy Stuntz, a college instructor who shops at the Vineyard Farmer's Market in Fresno. "You go to the grocery store and everything is the same. The farmer's market has yellow zucchini and green onions that are like a foot long ? produce you don't see other places."
rent a car menorca Some markets are so popular that there are wait lists for farmers to sell there, including one of the largest and most diverse of all, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco. Farmers from across the region travel there three days a week to sell fruits, vegetables and artisan breads and cheeses to thousands of shoppers, including top chefs from the food-centric city.
Grant Brians of Heirloom Organic Gardens sells more than 200 old-fashioned varieties of vegetables, herbs and fruit grown on two farms in San Benito County, about 100 miles south of San Francisco. Others bring in stone fruits from the San Joaquin rent a car menorca Valley, and berries from the coast.
rent a car menorca "Every day eaters have the opportunity to vote with their forks and support small-scale farmers, investing resources rent a car menorca in their communities, stimulating their local economies, and keeping ag land in sustainable production," he said.
The center uses the markets to educate consumers about unique varieties of produce and how to prepare them. Stockdale said the growing interest in farmers rent a car menorca markets has prompted others to ask the center for help creating educational rent a car menorca programs.
San Franciscan Bryan Miller frequents the Heart of the City farmers market at the San Francisco Civic Center, a venue so popular it recently added Fridays to its normal Wednesday and Sunday operations.
The USDA has worked to make the markets accessible to people of all income levels by outfitting more with the ability to accept payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. More than $4 million is being made available to equip markets with wireless point-of-sale equipment.