Why I Notice Women Working in Markets

I always notice women working in markets. Selling produce, cleaning fish, cooking food, counting change, managing children, negotiating prices, and keeping the day moving. Women working in markets are part of the backbone of local food economies.

Markets as women’s economic space

Markets often reveal women’s entrepreneurship in practical, visible ways. A stall may support a family, fund school fees, preserve a recipe, or keep a household afloat.

This connects with women in food systems and farmers markets. Gender is not separate from food systems. It is woven through them.

Knowledge that deserves respect

Women vendors often know the food deeply. They know what is fresh, how to cook it, what customers need, and how to stretch small margins. That knowledge is expertise.

Too often, informal food work gets treated as ordinary because women do it. I do not accept that. Ordinary work can still be highly skilled.

Seeing the system clearly

Food tours through GetYourGuide are strongest when they honor vendors instead of using markets as colorful backdrops.

The bigger lesson is that women’s labor feeds communities. We need to see it, value it, and write it into the story.

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