Mecklenburg County remains in a severe drought, and local farmers markets are feeling the impact.
Eric Simpson's family has been working at the Kings drives farmers market since his great-grandfather started it. He says flowers grown in greenhouses are holding up better during this drought, but produce is facing a tougher season.
“I was talking to a man yesterday in Pageland. He said, if we don't get rain in the next two weeks, he'll skip three crops of cantaloupes, because he just doesn't have the water to let them survive.”
As prices rise due to lower supply, Simpson says farmers are trying to keep them reasonable.
“We all want to get it as cheap as we can get it, and sell it as cheap as we can sell it. And in times like these, we just do what we can and bear with us.”
Ultimately, at farmers markets, a drought shows up in what’s on the table and what shoppers pay for it.
