Farmers' markets seen growing more competitive with stores

With supermarket prices rising sharply, some of those selling produce at traditionally more expensive farmers' markets say they see an opportunity to become more competitive. Farmers' markets have nearly doubled in number in Vermont since 2000, from 37 to 64, said Enid Wonnacott, the Vermont executive director for the Northeast Organic Farming Association. They've often drawn customers willing to pay a premium for food that is fresher, organically grown and local.

But that may be changing, said Alan LePage, a Barre vegetable grower and regular farmers' market vendor. "Farmers markets have always been less than the cheapest place to buy food," said LePage. "It's fresher and a lot of the farms producing it are smaller-scale. Prices have been generally, over the last 30 years, higher than supermarkets, sometimes significantly higher." But, he added, "that gap has been closing of late."