Mushrooming markets
Northampton gears up to support burgeoning farmers venues
Tuesday, September 1, 20091
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NORTHAMPTON - In five years, the number of farmers markets in the Pioneer Valley has more than doubled, and statewide figures show a similar jump.
Still, for all the demand from the public, it's not easy making a go of it as a farmers market in this day and age. A newly created committee in Northampton aims to change that.
With a nod to the growing demand for local food, the Northampton Agricultural Commission has set its sights on helping ensure the success of mushrooming farmers markets. It has created an eight-member subcommittee of the commission which is dedicated solely to farmers markets, with a mission of developing a comprehensive strategy for farmers markets in the city.
That type of coordination is necessary, and a sign of the times, said Claire Morenon, program coordinator at the Deerfield-based Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) - the number of markets in the Pioneer Valley has grown from 15 in 2004 to more than double that number. There are now 32, she noted.
Morenon said that type of coordination is essential as the number of farmers markets in the area grows.
"I think being conscious of that growth is important," said Morenon.
She noted that the explosion is a statewide phenomenon as well, with the number of farmers markets statewide nearly doubling in that time, from 101 in 2004 to 199 in 2009.
"There has been a lot of growth because there has been a lot of interest in local agriculture, which is great, but the whole thing has grown in a really organic fashion. I think taking a step back and surveying the scene and taking a real coordinated next step is a real smart thing to do," Morenon said.
And that is precisely what the subcommittee intends to do. It will embark on a review of the city's current markets, collect opinions and ideas from vendors and customers and present recommendations to the City Council about the future direction of its markets.
"What is going on here is that the city has never really sat down to review its markets," said the panel's chairman Ben James.
"The committee's job is to identify what kinds of channels can be opened up to help markets flow better," said James, who is a city farmer and founder of the Tuesday Market, held behind Thornes Marketplace weekly.
Meanwhile, Morenon said CISA is looking to establish a once-a-year winter farmer's market in Northampton. The market would be based on Greenfield's successful Winter Fare Market, which is volunteer based and provides a whole host of local food to area residents once a winter. She said new subcommittee's work would help the South Deerfield-run organization set up a Northampton market.
"It seemed like a good opportunity to explore what other markets are doing in Northampton and identify what our best practices might be," Morenon said, adding that if the once-a-year winter market was a success, CISA would look for ways to institutionalize it and make it a formal part of the city's market scene.
Northampton currently has three farmers markets: Tuesday Market, next the parking garage behind Thornes Marketplace, a Wednesday market in Florence and a Saturday morning market on Gothic Street.
Food, flowers, ambience
This week at Tuesday Market, shoppers amiably sorted through a host of produce, flower and locally-grown meat from 11 vendors, with piano music setting the ambience.
"It's so great," said Northampton resident and musician, Ed Rosser, playing his mobile spinet piano Tuesday. "I love playing on the street, but this is different. There is a plaza and children dance and I'm told the music adds something, which is nice."
Indeed, James said integrating arts and music into the farmers markets is something the subcommittee will consider.
On Tuesday, vendors Paul and Elijah Lagreze, from the Colrain New England Wild Edibles farm, said they enjoy the social atmosphere of the market.
"It's amazing, seeing people catching up, exchanging information," said Paul Lagreze. He said markets serve a social function as well as a business opportunity. The Lagrezes said free parking during farmers market hours and increased advertisement would be a great help to the Tuesday market.
Jim Hankins, who runs Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton, said that as a new farm he was not able to get into more established markets, so the Tuesday Market has been important for him.
"We found from the very first day that we were jammed. The community was really behind it," Hankins said. He said customers from Tuesday's market had begun to make their way out to his Easthampton farm stand, an added benefit he noted.
Lisa Baskin of Leeds, a regular at Tuesday and Wednesday markets, was on hand Tuesday buying apricots and peaches. She noted that she traveled to Crabapple Farm in Chesterfield to buy grass-fed beef and lamb once the market season ended.
"I really believe in trying to eat as much locally produced food as I can," Baskin said. "It's healthy, it saves on transportation costs, it's delicious and it supports local farming."
Bruce Young, a land-use and conservations planner for the city who will be working with the subcommittee, said the group would be studying a variety of issues facing Northampton's farmers markets, including the need for more space to expand, parking and how to integrate the markets into the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Improvement District.
"The question is what is the easiest way to get local food to local tables," Young said. "Is it having a wholesale market where restaurants can get local produce or some sort of wholesale market within a traditional farmer's market?"
The idea of a wholesale market, James said, has been floating around the city for some time.
"A lot of restaurants that focus on local food get deliveries from area farms, but the majority still buy in bulk from big distributors from Chicopee and Springfield," James said.
The subcommittee itself will focus its efforts on improving the local markets and helping to coordinate their growth, James said.
James, who runs Town Farm on Venture's Field Road, said gathering input from farmers and customers is the committee's first task. That information will be critical to citywide planning efforts, he said.
Working with city planners, vendors, customers and other parties, James said, the committee would make recommendations to the City Council. The panel is set to meet next week, on Thursday at 7 p.m., at a location to be announced for its first organizational meeting James said.
Its first order of business will be to hold a series of public meetings in September.
