FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky consumers can buy nutritious local foods and honor the people who produced them at the same time by visiting a farmers’ market during National Farmers’ Market Week Aug. 3-9.

“At a Kentucky farmers’ market, you can buy the freshest fruits and vegetables as well as meats and other foods you can serve to your family with confidence,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said. “You also can meet the people who produced those foods. They’re your friends and neighbors, people you see in town or at the ballgame or at church, and when you shop at a farmers’ market, you’re helping them provide for their families.”

More than 155 farmers’ markets in Kentucky offer a vast array of fruits and vegetables along with cheese, eggs, meats, honey, fresh cut flowers, crafts, and more. Shoppers can enjoy the sounds, smells, and tastes of Kentucky’s finest foods at markets that provide sampling and live entertainment.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Office of Agricultural Marketing and Product Promotion offers marketing assistance and educational training to Kentucky’s farmers’ markets and their vendors. “We recognize farmers’ markets as viable retail outlets for agricultural products, and we want to strengthen these markets to help Kentucky producers,” said Sharon Spencer, the department’s farmers’ market specialist.

The KDA maintains a statewide farmers’ market directory and produced a comprehensive farmers’ market manual and resource guide in cooperation with the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

For more information, or to find a farmers’ market near you, go to http://www.kyagr.com/marketing/farmers-market.html.