The tradition here at Let’s Get Fresh (if you want to call three years a tradition) has been to try to offer up a little Founding Father wisdom around the Independence Day holiday. Well, better late than never as they say. Stay tuned for more on this week's Market later but first I would like to touch on something that, as the BFM continues to promote a "locavore" state of mind, I hope you find as interesting as I do.

The 4th of July got me to thinking about what some of the founding fathers, particularly Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, would think of the current upsurge in the Buy Fresh Buy Local agricultural scene. Now, it is well known that Jefferson and Hamilton couldn't have given two figs for each other. And it goes without saying that they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye on this subject either.

"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous..." - Jefferson in a 1785 letter to John Jay.

From the above quote I think it is fair to assume that one thing Jefferson would give two figs about today is our new found appreciation of, and reliance on, small farmers. In the early days of the republic Jefferson extolled the virtues of an agrarian economy as the healthiest vehicle for the long-term growth of the country. As President he implemented policies that would help to achieve this goal. Now, I'm not naive enough to say that we should have followed that script to the letter but I do think when folks wax rhapsodic about the "good old days" that in many ways they are referring to a time when the country led a more "rural" life.

By that I mean a time when most Americans knew where the food on their table was grown or produced. They probably even knew the farmer or producer personally. In other words, our food supply was not processed in a factory somewhere.

"It has been maintained, that Agriculture is, not only, the most productive, but the only productive species of industry. The reality of this suggestion in either aspect, has, however, not been verified by any accurate detail of facts and calculations..." - Hamilton in his Report on Manufactures to the US Congress, 1791.

As you may be able to ascertain from the above quote, Hamilton, ever in opposition to Jefferson, passionately believed that our future prosperity depended on an economy rooted in industry and manufacturing. Not that he was completely anti-agriculture. The following is from the same report: "It ought readily to be conceded, that the cultivation of the earth as the primary and most certain source of national supply, (...) has intrinsically a strong claim to pre-eminence over every other kind of industry." That being said, Hamilton's position was that in adhering to an agrarian economy the nation would remain poor and isolated. He may have been right but we'll never know for sure since, obviously, his vision for the future economy won out over Jefferson's "agrarian ideal".

While I'm not in favor of one over the other, I do think over the course of our history that whenever one or the other has become weakened, many times by forces beyond its control, the country as a whole tends to suffer. And this is one reason why myself, the BFM Board, and other like-minded individuals, many of whom are also involved in "industry and manufacturing," are so passionate about supporting our local farmers.

In this, as in all things in life, balance and moderation should be the order of the day.

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Today the Market will see its first sweet corn of the season courtesy of one of our newest farmers, Nelson Ferry of BB&J Farm. If you were one of the lucky ones a couple of weeks back and were able to purchase some of Norm’s green beans before he sold out then you’ll know not to miss his corn. If you weren’t, well, better get there early!

And, yes, the beautiful tomatoes you see among the pictures here will be available at the Market as well. The ones in this particular picture were grown by Pattie Espinosa of Green Acres Farm. The silly folks seen here with the gorgeous basket of green beans are John Jennings and Mollie Toppe of Jennings Brae Bank Farm. And the beautiful picture of the rainbow over some lushly planted fields is courtesy of Sky Harmon of Harmony Farms. All the veggies you see in these pictures will be available at the Market today.

Moving across the concourse from her WV 00Bagel Company tent to the Chef’s Demo tent today will be Chef Emmy Smith-Zimmerman. All I know is her demo involves bagels, of course, and WV farm-raised trout. If you’ve had the opportunity to try Emmy’s bagels at the Market this season then you know what I’m saying when I tell you to not miss this Noon demo. Plus Chef Emmy knows how to rock a cooking demo. Always high energy and definitely entertaining.

The Masons return to the Music tent today for their monthly residency. I’ve said it here before but it’s worth repeating, you won’t find two nicer people on the planet than Skip and Cindi. And they play some of the coolest music ever written as well!

Until next week, Stay Fresh!

The Bridgeport Farmers Market Association is the seven member all volunteer board of directors that governs the Bridgeport Farmers Market. It is supported by a wonderful group of community volunteers who help in the setup and maintenance of the market. For more information on the Farmers Market or to see how you can help please e-mail us at bridgeportfarmersmarket@yahoo.comor, better yet, LIKE us on Facebook and follow us on both Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out the Market’s own YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BridgeportFarmersMktor for more BFM video content you can now go to http://vimeo.com/bridgeportfarmersmarket/videos

Go here to see all of the entries in the Let’s Get Fresh blog: http://tinyurl.com/kdv4mhl

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