Top 5 Farmers Market References in Popular TV Shows

By: Ben Feldman, Executive Director       Posted On: August 5, 2021

1. Parks and Recreation, Season 6 Episode 12

I love this episode because it feels like it could have been written by someone who’s spent a lot of time at farmers markets. Leslie Knope must have borrowed from FMC talking points in introducing the market: “It’s good for the economy, it’s good for families, and it’s good for promoting a healthy lifestyle.” I couldn’t have said it better myself! The central conflict in the story revolves around vendor behavior and market rules, something all too familiar to market managers. Add in a crate worth of vegetable puns, customers clueless about produce, and this episode is a winner in my book.

2. Farmer’s Market Flip

A cooking show set at the farmers market that uses ingredients from the market and vendors and customers as judges? Yes please! This one came close to taking the top spot but just missed out. It was a hard decision. 

3. Saturday Night Live, Neo-Confederate Meeting

The best comedy makes us laugh and serves as social commentary and besides, if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? While the skit mostly pokes fun at white supremacists and the state of Vermont, it also accurately points out that farmers markets have a history of being overwhelmingly white. While some markets are actively working to change that, we have work to do to make markets more welcoming places.

4. Broad City-Season 3 Episode 8

It’s a throwaway moment in the show, but it’s such a wonderful line. And hey, if you only get one word to describe the farmers market, juicy is a pretty good choice.

5. Supernatural-Season 8, Episode 3

In preparing this list, I struggled more with this than any other show on the list. I seriously considered it as high as 3 and as low as 5, moving it around multiple times. I appreciate what is a pretty accurate look to the market and I do agree with the writers that farmers markets are one of the good things in life. In the end I couldn’t get past the apple. Maybe it’s just me, but it doesn’t look like it came from a farmers market!

How about you? Which of these (or other) examples of farmers markets in TV shows are your favorite?