So many things happening in the farmers market world these days as they go beyond just trying to convince people to do their grocery shopping in parking lots and move on to the next phase of growth.

They’re booming everywhere, but that’s produced a new set of problems. I’ve been reading for a while that cities from Seattle to Portland to San Fran to New York to wherever have experienced the issue of too many farmers markets. (Farmers markets MUST be hip because the cheesy romcom No Strings Attached had one scene set at the Los Angeles farmers market downtown)

I wrote about that here, looking at what’s happening in Vancouver and Toronto.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the changes markets are going through, as they look for permanent homes, expand to new sites, experiment with pocket markets, try to gain a foothold in unlikely suburban spots, sweet-talk municipalities into adjusting their bylaws to make them more than temporary events, and move from being strictly volunteer organizations.