In any business, it is possible to be too successful, and to reach a point where the ability to supply a product or service is exceeded by the demand for it. This might seem like a dream come true for business, but that’s not always the case.
Farmers markets provide one example.
Capital News Service reported last week that farmers markets in Maryland are unable to keep up with the demand for fresh produce because there aren’t enough farmers to supply it.
That’s even true in Allegany County, where farmers markets are one of our most successful institutions.
The demand is there, as anyone who routinely patronizes them and is familiar with the quality of available product can tell you.
Jack Miltenberger, a local farmer who has been participating in our farmers markets for the last 22 years, told Capital News Service that even more vendors are needed. Strawberries are particularly in short supply, he said.
Why is this happening? It’s because small farmers themselves are in short supply.
Small farms once were the mainstay of food supply in America, but their numbers have dwindled. They are being replaced by huge operations that are oriented more toward selling to companies that run supermarkets or supply the national brand food these markets sell.
Farming is hard work. It’s not a 9-to-5 job that gives you weekends and holidays off. Also, it’s expensive to be a farmer.
Maryland Department of Agriculture Assistant Secretary Pat McMillan said agricultural land in the state routinely sells for between $7,000 and $10,000 an acre. Add the cost of purchasing equipment, putting up buildings and buying seed or livestock, and the startup cost can be astronomical. The expense of maintaining the operation can be just as enormous, and profits — when there actually are profits — usually are small.
We would be in sad shape without small farms. Patronizing them whenever possible is the best way to keep them in business. Besides that, theirs is the freshest and tastiest product available.
Editorials
Related Photos
-
In short supply
In short supply
Farmers markets could use more vendors
- Editorials
-
-
Editorial Cartoon - 05/18/2013
-
Maryland has stopped being “The Free State”
I am a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and, last but not least, the National Rifle Association. I am a yearly member of the American Legion.
-
Outrageous
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
This amounts to spying on an American news organization — common practice in dictatorships but scary conduct in a democratic system that prizes the public value of an independent watchdog press. -
Prevention
The Allegany County Board of Health on Tuesday heard some alarming numbers involving overdoses involving drugs and alcohol. Fortunately, the group already has a plan to ease the situation.
-
Financial gutting will damage school system
I am writing in response to the Allegany County Commissioners’ efforts to cut local education spending to the lowest possible level allowed under state law.
-
Cemetery organization plans events to mark Memorial Day
This upcoming Memorial Day marks the 30th anniversary of the Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization (CHCO).
-
Better fix it
The West Virginia Division of Highways should not give up on improving safety at the intersection of U.S. Route 220 and Stoney Run Road in Keyser merely because the intersection does not meet the state’s criteria for a traffic signal.
-
That many?
Only about one in every four people trust the federal government, according to a recent Pew Research survey.
We’re surprised that number isn’t close to zero. -
It’s time to ratify Equal Rights Amendment
I have three words I want to say: “It is time.”
By those three words, I am referring to passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). -
Preserve these things for future generations
This is an open letter to the mayor of Cumberland and Allegany County commissioners:
- More Editorials Headlines
-
