Number of Farmers' Markets in Salt Lake City, Utah from 2008 to 2015. [1]

In 2008, Salt Lake City produced a series of goals for different areas of sustainability. One of these goals was to not only raise the number of farmers markets in the downtown area, but to make them more efficient and more effective. In 2008 there was only one market, but by 2013 there were 11—exceeding the goal. In 2014 and 2015 that number decreased to 7, but the decrease was not necessarily detrimental or counter-productive. Less can, in fact, sometimes be more - holding 7 quality markets is more effective than holding 11 that are inefficient. [1]

To further explore Salt Lake's goals and plans for a more sustainable future, check out the 2015 SLCgreen Sustainability Dashboard.

Though Cache Valley does not yet have the same sort of goals and plans as Salt Lake City in place, the number of farms contributing to direct sales in Cache County has been on the rise in the last few years. While there is room for improvement as far as planning ahead for a more sustainable future, it certainly seems that Cache Valley is succeeding as far as the farm-to-fork concept goes. It is also important to note that the area has not lost or forgotten its rich agricultural history and tradition of farming!