All's Well That Ends Well: How Alabama Farmers Marketers “Last Stand” Against Modernity Was Finally Resolved

Farmers markets are inextricably tied to local politics, culture, and individual feelings and behaviors about food and community. Just as the farmers market can be a site for community integration and bonding, it can also be a site of contention–especially when long‐standing traditions are threatened. When city planners in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, decided to relocate the modest but long‐established farmers market to a new indoor facility along the revitalized Black Warrior Riverfront, vendors and their clients rebelled, worried that a new facility would cater only to upscale shoppers. Ethnographic interviews with all key players were conducted to determine the values and needs of each interest group, with the hopes of reaching an optimal solution to the problem of supplying fresh fruits and vegetables to all citizens. This article features an analysis of points of convergence and divergence among farmer and customer opinions and presents the epilogue to this drawn‐out conflict.