Farmer Consumer Awareness Day

Website: Go to www.quincyfcad.org

Welcome to Farmer Consumer Awareness Days!  Quincy's Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day (FCAD) started in 1981 when Dennis Higashiyama was listening to the radio. He heard a story on the Paul Harvey show that illustrated how farmers and consumers had drifted apart - leaving many people with little or no understanding about how food actually arrives on their grocery store shelves.

For farmers, FCAD is an opportunity to show off the fruits of their labor and demonstrate the tools and techniques that they use in their work. For the public, it's a great way to learn about where your groceries come from and to talk to the people who grow them for a living. Over the past 31 years, the event has grown successfully with tours of area processing plants and farms, displays of farm equipment, informational and commodity booths, and a farmer's market.

The celebration has been expanded to include the Grand Parade, the Farm to Market Fun Run (read more about the run below), live entertainment, cook-offs, arts and crafts, a car show and booths that showcase locally grown delicacies.

Every 2nd Saturday in September, Quincy celebrates Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day. For a month beforehand, the roads leading to town are decorated with signs showing local crops and products made with them. On the day of the celebration, floats created by local schools and farm equipment parade through town. Free agricultural and geology tours are offered, as well as a produce sale, tractor pull, Farm-to-Market fun run, and many other activities.