Nova Scotia seeing steady increase in number of farmers' markets

Nova Scotia has the most farmers' markets per capita in Canada, according to Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia, a non-profit co-operative.

The province has grown from 11 markets in 2004 to 44 markets in 2023.

"It's been increasing steadily," said Justin Cantafio, the executive director of Farmers' Markets of Nova Scotia and co-founder of Canadian Farmers' Markets, the national association. 

He has been with the co-operative since 2018 and has seen 20 markets join in the province during that time. 

The pandemic, he said, has helped the local food and market movement. 

"We've seen new farmers' markets pop up all over in rural locations across Nova Scotia, but as well as parts of the city of Halifax, for example, that might have historically been underserved in terms of food access." 

Many Nova Scotians are going to farmers' markets as an alternative to grocery stores, Cantafio said.

"Farmers' markets offer that sort of trust, that community, that transparency and traceability that people are really craving," he said.

"We're a perfect location," Cantafio said, because there is a strong urban-to-rural link.

"A lot of the demand for local food is in the city, but a lot of the production is in places like the South Shore, the north shore and the Valley," he said, "Not to mention southwest Nova Scotia and Cape Breton having strong production as well."

The growth is also largely due to a culmination of producers, cooks, farmers and shoppers all coming together.

Leah Carruthers is one of those shoppers. She and her fiancé, Ehsas Mallick, recently moved to Nova Scotia from Moncton, N.B., where they frequented the local farmers' markets. 

Carruthers said she likes to support people selling local products that they personally made, which is why she strolled into the Halifax Brewery Market on Saturday.  

Because she and Mallick have different tastes when it comes to food, she said the variety of choice at farmers' markets is ideal.

"He's very carnivore and I'm a vegetarian, so if we go to a place like this we don't have to worry about compromising someone's dietary needs," she said. 

Carruthers also likes the community aspect found at farmers' markets. She said they got to know some producers in Moncton.

"It's definitely a completely different environment to a grocery store," she said.