The Johnson’s Backyard Garden stand at the Texas Farmers’ Market on Sunday at Mueller (Photo by David Brendan Hall)
After the devastating winter storm system that sustained freezing temperatures and knocked out power and water across Central Texas, regional farmers and ranchers experienced extraordinarily harsh conditions, which in turn affects our entire local food system.
Nora Chovanec, deputy director of the Texas Farmers' Market, explained, "Being a farmer in general is really difficult, but in Central Texas we have two growing seasons, and our markets stay open year-round (unlike in the Northeast, for example). So our farmers don't necessarily take a lot of breaks. They are used to dealing with inclement weather – we have freeze cycles and drought cycles; it really runs the gamut – but this was an incredibly unprecedented event. Usually when there's a flood or a freeze, out of our ag producers, we'll see a couple of them who are affected by whichever inclement weather was passing by at that point. This time around, everybody experienced it and experienced it really hard." Texas Farmers' Market operates two of Austin's large farmers' markets, both producer-only, at Lakeline and Mueller. Chovanec inspects to make sure they are growing the things they say they are growing, treating their animals humanely, using the sustainable practices they say they are using. "My job is to understand what's going on on the ground to best support our farmers and tell their story, and help people understand why they should support our markets, farmers and ranchers, and all our small businesses."