What the Papers Say

The First Lady of Farmers' Markets
Planck looks as looks as healthy and wholesome as ripe strawberries. She is young, light, has energy fizzing from every pore, and has achieved more in her 30 years than most women do in a lifetime.
- The Financial Times (2001)

A vocal and frequent defender of the American family farm
- The New York Times (2006)
 
A raw milk rebellion seems to be simmering out in America, but my cynical side suspects cheese makers who want to do their European best have an up-Everest road ahead of them. Right now this country is going backward on flavor and nutrition and quality, not forward, with industry foxes positioned at most every henhouse where artisanal ideas might be hatched. Take New York City's decision to outlaw regular old whole milk in public schools. As Nina Planck pointed out at the press lunch for her forthcoming book Real Food: What to Eat and Why, kids don't get enough calcium from skim milk, and they have trouble digesting it. They need the real deal. (And as she also noted, if obesity is the problem, the solution is more what Connecticut announced in the very same news cycle with its ban on sugary drinks in schools.)
- Regina Schrambling, food writer for the LA Times (2006)

Greenmarket sought a director who not only understood farmers' markets but who could make Greenmarket a forward-thinking model of sustainable agriculture. Planck, 32, had grown up on a farm in Virginia that depended entirely on farmers' markets. She had created a system of 13 for-profit farmers' markets in London, and later opened a market in Washington. She was articulate about farmland preservation. They hired Ms. Planck to bring Greenmarket up to speed. Peter Hoffman, chef of Savoy: 'Nina had a larger vision. And the market needs a larger vision.'
- The New York Times (2004)

A poised, articulate and not-so-quietly passionate advocate of what she has dubbed the 'slocal' movement-both 'slow' and 'local' foods - Planck is a riveting voice for consumers who want fresh food grown in their own region.
- The Cleveland Plain Dealer (2003)

What she did for London-area farmers and city-dwellers then she's doing for [DC] residents now. She moved to the colorful and multicultural Mount Pleasant community and decided her neighborhood could use a farmers' market.
- The Washington Times (2003)

The Patron Saint of Farmers' Markets
A woman spoken of [by farmers] with the utmost respect for her determination to make rules - strict rules - and to stick by them.
- The Guardian (2002)

She was raised on a farm in Virginia, though she is the kind of farm girl who went to work for Dick Gephardt when he was House majority leader, and most recently was a speechwriter for the American Ambassador to Great Britain. She's very media-friendly, which in England means that she provides facts, figures, anecdotes.
- The New Yorker (2001)

Green Queen
Discovering her adopted city was not familiar with what is a mainstream institution in the US, the 29-year-old decided to set one up for herself. She was armed with just her own hard-earned funds from being a journalist and a speechwriter to the American ambassador. The smash success of the markets provides the best answer to her initial detractors.
- Time Out London (2000)

Planck's expertise... has become so admired that the Prince of Wales sought her guidance [on] rural areas. Britain's Agriculture Minister presided at opening ceremonies for two of her markets. Planck's name has become virtually synonymous with the movement. Why? Because in a very American way, one that combines Washington political savvy with the idealism of the late '60s, Planck gets it done.
- The Washington Post (2000)

Planck, 28, was cited by the London Evening Standard as one of London's top 'power people,' with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
- The Washington Post (2000)


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