Farmers' markets are growing like weeds in California, with 719 certified statewide and more than 300 in LA, Orange and Ventura Counties. Participating farmers are supposed to sell fresh produce they grow themselves, sometimes without chemicals. However not everybody obeys the rules. With state and local agricultural agencies short of resources, some markets try to police themselves. We look at how that's working out and ask why farmers' markets are so popular in the first place. On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, drought, economic speculation and climate change are threatening a worldwide food shortage, and the UN is warning about food riots like those of two years ago. We ask if a distribution system dominated by US agri-business needs to be overhauled.
Banner image of root vegetables at Santa Monica Farmers' Market: Muy Yum