By DOUG GRAVES

Ohio Correspondent

LEBANON, Ohio — Along with the proliferation of local and regional food, the number of farmers’ markets is rising each year. In 1994, there were fewer than 2,000 in the United States; that number grew to 4,385 by 2006. Today, the USDA’s national directory lists 8,669 registered markets.

“These markets are not only improving the diets of American city-dwellers, it’s cultural and political gaps that widened in recent years,” says Darlene Wolnik, senior researcher and farmers’ market consultant for the Farmers Market Coalition. “They’ve become the only place where rural and urban really meet.”

But some farmers’ market experts, and many vendors, are finding an overabundance of markets in many counties throughout Ohio and other states. Competition is all well and good, but an over-supply of any commodity at one location feels like bad news for all sellers.

In Lebanon, in Warren County, no more than 18 vendors can be found at the outside market, which runs from May-October, selling everything from fragrant soap to midget greens. The market is open to local farmers, bakers, and canners and only those from Warren County or a neighboring county can participate. That restriction was required as a “southwest Ohio invasion” was starting to occur.

“That county restriction was needed, as this market was becoming inundated with vendors from throughout southwest Ohio,” said Lauren Bishop, whose father-in-law, Bill Swain, was one of the first vendors at this once-a-week market.

“What started out as a quaint gathering of eight producers and growers became a feeding frenzy, and when it becomes too large it’s difficult to make any money due to all the competition. Then, other municipalities in the area (nearby Mason and Xenia, to name two) began attracting buyers to their market. It all became saturated with vendors.”

At less than 5 percent of overall food sales, farmers’ markets in Ohio comprise a miniscule piece of the pie. Cutting into that pie even more are such factors as home deliveries by such companies as Kroger.

“In the past, we’ve thought people would find us because they’re looking for local food, and they want to hear the stories of local food,” Wolnik said. “Now, we have to fight for attention.”

She said farmers’ markets experienced a massive decline from the late 1950s through the early 1980s. That decline saw a sudden, somewhat unexpected rebound as major changes in consumer attitudes about food took root as society moved into the 21st century.

“Farmers’ markets have plateaued, and ran into trouble by 2010,” Wolnik said. “Farmers’ markets, in some ways the pinnacle of local food with its food with a face that goes straight from farm to fork, played a major part in this movement.

“Then other food distribution channels have adapted to consumer demands for fresh, local produce, including organic options. Traditional grocery stores now carry local and large amounts of organic items.

“Natural foods have penetrated so deeply into traditional food distribution channels that my local Kroger in rural Kentucky had kombucha on the store shelves. This is something that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, yet there it was last week as I walked through the store doing some research,” Wolnik added.

Others say that farmers’ markets’ demise has another culprit, and it’s cultural. David Zimmerer of Goshen is a regular seller at markets in Warren and Clinton counties and sees a change in purchase decisions.

“Farmers’ markets have become such a social venue that customers are buying more prepared food than fresh produce,” he noted. “I see many stalls now with ready-to-eat meals and drinks, while sales for those with fresh produce are declining.

“And, since most consumers no longer can and preserve their fruits and vegetables, they’re buying for a much shorter time frame. That means that the quantities purchased are much lower – a pattern seen not only at farmers’ markets but in U-pick operations and on-farm markets.

“The other side effect of short-term purchases is a positive one, in that customers come more often to buy, meaning they’ll visit weekly instead of once or twice a season,” he said.

The saturation of farmers’ markets is not a Midwest dilemma. Diane Eggert, executive director of the Farmers Market Federation of New York, believes the problem is one of pure mathematics.

“There simply are way too many markets,” she said. “The markets have started cannibalizing both customers and farmers from the other markets to keep going. I’ve learned that consumers have other options for fresh foods, including convenient home delivery options from local food stores and such companies as Amazon, Instacart, or Blue Apron.”

Eggert has a solution, if only communities would listen, she explained. “Most communities fail to think through the logistics, as they don’t realize that there are too few farmers and too few customers to make multiple markets viable. Rather than packing up their tents, smaller struggling markets could combine forces with each other to create a single, stronger farmers’ market.

“Farmers’ markets are a key source of local food, but we’d like to see communities working together. If five communities partnered on one market instead of starting five different markets, that one market would be a more exciting, enticing venue for customers and a more profitable market for farmers.

“We don’t need more markets, we need stronger and more viable markets,” she said.