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By Maureen Post OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Maureen Post

Published Aug. 23, 2009 at 4:58 p.m.

Tags: madison farmers market, farmers market, local produce

In Milwaukee, there's a farmers market pretty much every day of the summer. Between the market in West Allis, Downtown, East Side, East Town, Riverwest and Bay View, not to mention markets running independently in almost every surrounding suburb, you can nearly always find farm fresh produce somewhere.

But while each of these supports the local economy and provides a good selection of vegetables, bakery and indie-made goods, where's our "Madison"-style farmers market?

For those who have experienced it, you can attest that the Saturday morning farmers market on Madison's Capitol Square is on another level.

Four blocks of vendors from across the state vie for a spot each and every year at Madison's farmers market. In addition to produce, you can find meats, cheeses, baked goods, honey, flowers, succulents and fresh pasta. In addition to groceries, there are musicians, artisans, food vendors and street performers.

You can spend the entire morning wandering in the crowds, overwhelmed with the spectacle of Wisconsin pride and sampling the best of local produce.

So, why are our farmer's markets so much tamer? Do we have too many spread throughout the city that no single market draws the crowds Madison can? Do we prefer the quick in and out?

9 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by Tammy on Aug. 25, 2009 at 2:39 p.m. (report)

I used to love the Madison Farmer's Market, but it's such a 'scene' now - you can't get near the vendors half the time. I love our varied markets here! South Shore has the best vibe and West Allis is THE classic old school market. I'm more disappointed that our Public Market never became a true market and has become instead a glorified food court. Which is fine, but it's not a public market.

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Posted by eastsidefoodie on Aug. 25, 2009 at 10:36 a.m. (report)

If you're looking for a true farmers market, the West Allis one is my choice. Lots of vendors, and they seem to add more variation every year, on Saturdays, beyond all the beautiful produce they have a beef vendor, chicken vendor, Wildflour bakery, and sometimes a maple syrup vendor. If you're looking for an all day event, just make the drive to Madison, most of the people who attend are tourists anyways.

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Posted by ndf2 on Aug. 24, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. (report)

I have hit some of the various markets in the area and they were all mostly, "meh." I went to the West Bend farmers market at around 10:30 on Saturday and couldn't believe how packed that was. Cool downtown setting, many different types of vendors (including dairy and meat, which tend to miss the cut at smaller markets), and even live music. I was impressed.

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Posted by terrabrown on Aug. 24, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. (report)

"Madison also has the unspoken benefit of having easily the most picturesque building in the state as the backdrop." Are you serious? A case can be made for the Calatrava as one of the most beautiful buildings in the entire country, let alone Wisconsin. The Capitol building is nice, but how many other states have capitols similar to ours? But as someone who spent a significant part of his formative years in Madison, I think it's hilarious that Milwaukee actually wants the type of market Madison has. Do you really think Madison wouldn't rather have enough neighborhoods scattered throughout the city that could sustain a different market every day of the week the way Milwaukee does? Besides, whats stopping any of the Milwaukee markets from tweaking itself to be more like (or even better than) that Madison market?

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Posted by kadeesia on Aug. 24, 2009 at 12:26 p.m. (report)

I have often wished for a Madison style market here in Milwaukee, but the small neighborhood style markets are a better fit for our city I think. The best and largest in our area is the long running West Allis Farmer's Market, which ironically, has seen a decline in the number of farm vendors since they remodeled. Not sure if it was the flood last year, or bad blood from the remodel. The one thing I think our small markets haven't had luck in drawing is meat and poultry vendors. There are a few chicken vendors here and there, a hormone free beef lady at West Allis, and there used to be an elk vendor at Bay View, but overall I don't think the small markets can support these vendors.

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