South Hadley farmers' market blossoming

By THE DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE

July 27, 2009

SOUTH HADLEY - If you drive through South Hadley on a Thursday evening this summer, you will probably pass the town's new and already bustling farmers' market. You'll see several booths touting a range of local produce and wares. You might even meet someone you know.

"It's a great way to support local farmers, local agriculture and local business," said Vanessa Palomo, 23, of Northampton, who organized the event with South Hadley resident Ann Pemberton.

Kathy Foley lives within walking distance of the market and came to browse through the colorful vegetables, fruits and craft wares displayed on tables and in bins and baskets. She sees the market as more than a place to shop. It is, she said, a place to "bring people together."

South Hadley's farmers' market joins others around the region, held on Saturdays and Tuesdays in Northampton, Wednesdays in Florence and Saturdays in Amherst.

South Hadley's market will run on the town green in front of the Village Commons, at the junction of Routes 47 and 116, Thursdays from July through October, from 1 to 6 p.m. After the market closes, residents gather on the common for the town's weekly summer concert series.

"It's a social event as much as a shopping expedition, I think," said Palomo. "It just feels like a community event. It's in a central location in the center of town. People drive by it every day."

Palomo, who grew up in Northampton, said she has long been interested in healthy eating and organic food, an interest that grew stronger in her senior year at Bowdoin College in Maine when she read Barbara Kingsolver's, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," which recounts a year of eating locally grown food.

From that point on, local agriculture was a calling. She read books about environmentally sustainable practices, along the lines of Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and Bill McKibben's "Deep Economy."

Her job as a book club director and associate textbook manager at the Odyssey Bookshop in the Village Commons helped her research along.

"I've been reading anything that comes into the store on that subject," she said.

In fact, she says it was bookstore co-owner Joan Grenier who mentioned to her that South Hadley used to have a farmers' market of its own. In April, with the Odyssey's support, Palomo approached the Select Board with her plan to bring it back.

She also spoke to folks at South Deerfield's Community Involved Sustainable Agriculture (CISA), a nationwide organization that seeks to support local farmers, about the project. Palomo saw an opportunity for the market to help both local businesses and Valley agriculture.

"It's the idea of supporting localism and supporting the people who do business around you," she explained.

Once Palomo got the go-ahead from town officials, news of the planned farmers' market spread by word of mouth.

When the South Hadley Farmers' Market launched July 2, the five vendors sold out of all or most of their products.

According to Palomo, many of the vendors had never sold at a farmers' market until they came to South Hadley. Jim Hankins, owner of Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton, has been in business for about a year and a half. He sells fresh produce and flowers at the market.

"It's a great opportunity," he said, standing beside his flower display. "This community is within easy walking distance. There seem to be a lot of people who want to have their own farmers' market," he said. "They're very possessive of it. And look around ... It's beautiful!"

One of the benefits of shopping at any farmers' market, said Palomo, is the opportunity to ask the vendors about their wares.

People can ask vendors about seasonality, or how they raise their produce or animal stock.

"You can talk to them not just about buying food, but about how to prepare it, where it comes from, why they decided to go into lamb," she said, referring to the booth of Leyden Glen Lamb, which sells lamb raised in the pastures of Leyden and Bernardston.

Mona and Ed Parker of Parker's Sugar House in Granby, who also run a bed and breakfast out of their home, sold maple syrup and sugar candy at the market.

"People are really looking to buy local, especially now with the economy," said Mona Parker. "I think people here really came out here to support us. I know South Hadley is coming out here to say, We're glad you're here.'"