Dear Salt Lake City Farmers Market

To whom it may concern:

The Farmers Market is one of our “favorites and bests.” We look forward to it until it comes and miss it so when it leaves. We come almost every weekend, stay for hours and spend way too much money. How can we help ourselves?

We usually end up getting breakfast AND lunch. The highlight of our day is sitting on the warm grass drinking fresh carrot juice and a delectable pastry.  I am telling you, this the life.

We don’t mind how extremely crowded it is, weird incense smells and dealing with parking (which in all honestly isn’t that bad). It is too busy to bring a double stroller, which isn’t bothersome because, well, we are in love with the place. I have mastered carrying 3-4 full bags and keeping tabs on a 2- and  3-year-old. Really, you should be proud.

We bask in this world of balsamic vinegar, artichoke pesto, fresh farm eggs, plump round juicy cherries and the bread….oh, the bread! I have even come to love the smell of coffee beans, which is saying a lot because for two pregnancies in a row the smell made me sick.

Every single time we attend we find a hidden treasure we had not seen, tasted, smelled or eaten before. ALL of your vendors are utterly amazing, friendly and carry a product they’ve put a lot of love into. Man, the place is heaven (almost); it recharges us for the week and supplies our home with food for the whole week.

But alas, this past Saturday I was just a WEE bit peeved when I left the Salt Lake Farmers Market . The dogs. The dogs everywhere. The dogs being let go from their leashes. The diarrhea from dogs scattered all over the ground that left a faint smelt of dog diarrhea and freshly baked bread throughout the whole place. The dog fight that erupted with a group of smaller dogs at my two babies’ feet that was not stopped but praised with “Oh, how cute is this?” (It would not been “so cute” even with middle-size dogs—but that’s another rant for another day.) The dog owners that use a Farmers Market, which is a place of  wonder as much as it is a place of CHAOS–to “break in,” “socialize,” “train” their dogs–and with most of them doing quite an irresponsible, horrible job of it. I tell you, if just ONE more dog owner had come up to my girls without asking and shoved his dog in my kids’ faces to “socialize” them, I would’ve lost it!

Do I believe in socializing your dogs? Yes–hello, I am married to Utah’s awesomest dog trainer! Do I just adore dogs? Yes and so do my girls. But allowing the Farmers Market to become BOMBARDED (I swear there were double the amount of dogs than kids there) by these cute canines just ain’t working for me.

Let them go to dog parks, let them set up a part of the park during the Farmers Market for a dog “meet and greet” to socialize their dogs. It is an important thing to do, but not here.

But do not continue to allow dogs into the Farmers Market. I promise you it is disaster waiting to happen for the city of Salt Lake and it will most definitely happen. It might not be this year or the next but someone will get hurt by dogs. Unfortunately with how many responsible dog owners there are at the Farmers Market there is an even larger group of completely irresponsible dog owners, who do NOT have the know-how to bring their dogs to such a chaotic environment. Plus people are SELLING FOOD! Do we have to have dog do-do and pee everywhere?

Salt Lake City, no more dogs at the Farmers Market. I don’t feel safe bringing my kids and it really takes away from the purpose, charm and cleanliness of the Farmers Market.

Tags: local news

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