Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Dean, Erin

Keywords

Sarasota, Florida, Food, Farmers Markets, Production, Consumption

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

As food markets have grown increasingly globalized and entrenched within the neoliberal, capitalist system of the 21st century, the production, sale and consumption of locally grown food has presented itself as a viable alternative to what many view as the depravity of modern industrial agriculture. Farmers markets traditionally represent the intersection of the local agricultural system with consumers interested in supporting various aspects of locally grown food, though this classical vision is not always the norm today. Through participant observation and interviews with managers, organizers, farmers, non-farmer vendors, and customers, this thesis analyzes two farmers markets of differing size and principles in and around Sarasota county, in order to illuminate what drives people to produce, sell, purchase, and consume food for and at farmers markets and the ways in which these ideals affect the composition of the markets and participants themselves.

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