The event takes place on the occasion of the proclamation of 18 May by the Regional Council of the Region of Attica, as the Day of the Farmers’ Markets. This is the day on which in 1929 Eleftherios Venizelos inaugurated the first popular market in Thiseio, which since then until today is an integral cell of Greek society, offering consumers direct access to fresh products at competitive costs, producers direct ability to sell to the consumer public and at the same time jobs and the possibility of social interaction, socialization and connection.

At the Conference, an opinion survey on the social and economic importance of the farmers’ markets will be presented by the CEO of METRON ANALYSIS, Mr Stratos Fanaras, which is happening for the first time in the history of the institution. Consumers, mayors and the vendors themselves participate in the survey.

During the conference, the major issues of the 271 popular markets that operate weekly in 62 municipalities of Attica, employing more than 15,000 workers and visited by hundreds of thousands of consumers for their food and other supplies, will also be discussed.

The Director of the Body, Charis Pasvantidis, says that “The popular markets are an institution that has endured for almost a century, because it successfully meets the basic needs of the consumer public. However, the social and economic conditions that created, maintained, and established them have changed radically. The farmers’ markets need to adapt to the new circumstances so that they can continue to offer citizens cheap, high-quality, fresh products. This adaptation to modern conditions with major changes in the way they operate will be discussed at the first Conference concerning them, with the METRON ANALYSIS research as a basic tool for thinking, reflection, and decisions, in addition to the statements of the guests. The task of organising such a Conference for the first time is far from easy. But one had to start once, with the hope and wish that it would continue, improve, and become an institution.”