If you’re a food lover, farmers markets are a great place for you to begin monetizing your passion.  Market vendors operate at a small scale, so you can take the time to get your feet wet.  You won't need to have much of a staff or a marketing budget, nor will you need access to a commercial kitchen. And as farmers markets are local and community oriented, visitors tend to be regulars who are open to trying new foods and checking out the new vendors. When they find something they like, they’re likely to become repeat customers who will spread the word among their friends.

Where to start? The first thing to do is to choose at least one food item you want to sell. Whether you’re baking cookies based on your grandmother’s recipes or simmering a batch of your father’s famous BBQ sauce, you will be more likely to succeed if your venture is fueled by passion. But a successful food business requires more than a love of great food. One aspect new food...

A lot of us have come to appreciate the importance of local, fresh food for our overall health and nutrition. This is probably why farmers markets have been growing in popularity in recent years. Produce sold at farmers markets are grown within the region and picked within days of being sold. Unlike much of the produce sold in big supermarket chains, produce sold at farmers markets have exceptional flavor and are packed with vitamins and minerals nutrition. Most local food is grown without pesticides and don’t need to be sprayed with chemicals to survive the journey to the market.

New Orleanians are no different than the rest of the country; having demanded local, fresh food of years. Thankfully, farmers and food entrepreneurs have responded. Farmers markets in New Orleans are plentiful and are open just about every single day. Here is a list of the top farmers markets in the greater New Orleans area:

Freret Market

Since 2007, the Freret Market has been feeding and...