The votes are in, and it’s official: Brookfield’s farmers market is one of the best in the country.
The Brookfield Farmers Market has been voted the best farmers market in Illinois and the fourth best in the country for the second year in a row in the American Farmland Trust’s 16th annual America’s Farmer Market Celebration. Brookfield moved up the regional rankings this year, earning the title of best farmers market in the Midwest after placing second for the region last year.
The market, held at Brookfield Village Hall, 8820 Brookfield Ave., on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Oct. 12, will earn $850 and a gift bag of merchandise across its three titles this year. Brookfield Farmers Market Manager Gina Sharenow said in a written statement Thursday that the market will put its winnings, alongside some “generous sponsorships,” toward four scholarships for Brookfield teenagers.
“I am filled with immense gratitude,” Sharenow said in the statement. “Our market’s remarkable growth could not have been achieved without the unwavering support of the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce, our dedicated market committee members, the Village, Public Works and the entire community. Each time I’ve proposed a new idea, the immediate response has been, ‘How can we help you?’ This embodies the incredible spirit of cooperation that thrives in our town.”
According to the American Farmland Trust, Brookfield’s farmers market earned 2,813 votes in this year’s competition. The Midtown Farmers Market in Sacramento, California, narrowly beat Brookfield out for the third-place spot nationally, earning only 83 more votes for a total of 2,896. The McKinney, Texas, farmers market that came in second earned more than 4,500 votes, while the first-place market, from Mount Washington, Kentucky, broke 10,000 votes.
In the Midwest region, Brookfield took the competition by storm, earning more than double the votes of the second-place market from West Bend, Wisconsin. At the state level, the Brookfield Farmers Market dominated even harder; the second-place market out of Park Ridge earned only 453 votes.
The Riverside Farmers Market placed fifth in Illinois with 167 votes.
