New Idea: Farmers Markets

Not so.  As the Universal York blog reminds us, in the old days there were market buildings, some of some distinction.  See here for the interior and here for exterior.  Those who push farmers markets today need to examine the reasons why they almost vanished in the first place. (DC has the Eastern Market and I think a couple others, so they didn't quite vanish, but there's a fine balance of population density, transportation, refrigeration, economy, female cooks, household help, etc. which formed the ecology in which such buildings could be erected and maintained.)