by David Flint
It’s all about growth – growing local food, growing the community, “growing the valley.” So instead of a ribbon cutting at the Grand Opening of the Lebanon Valley Farmers Market on the fourth of July, they had a vine cutting! Wielding the lopping shears were NYS Assemblyman Tim Gordon and New Lebanon Town Supervisor Meg Robertson. Gordon pointed out that New York State’s largest industry is agriculture, “not Wall Street.”
Robertson said the Farmers Market was long in coming and was just what is needed as the
Town makes efforts to refocus its energies. Instead of buying from other communities and countries she sees people now beginning to figure out how to survive by supporting each other and producing and buying food and crafts locally. Robertson said many people have mentioned to her how thrilled they are to able to get fresh produce right in town without
putting miles on the car.
The Grand Opening of the Farmers Market, located on the grassy area in front of the Midtown Mall, was held on a gloriously beautiful Independence Day. There were pony rides for the kids. Hideaway Valley Farm also had Nigerian Dwarf goats that the kids could pet and some tried their hand at milking the larger Saanen goats. Old time country music was provided by the Kitchen Kaylie Band with Peter Dufault, Anne Banks and Gene and Rob Parzek doing the strumming. Later in the afternoon Bill Dillof (aka Banjo Bill) provided the music. And of course there was plenty
of fresh food and crafts too. There was fresh produce from Hand Hollow Farm, Willowtree Organic Farm, the Millett Family Farm and Bruce and Phil Riccardi’s Berlin’s Best LLC. There were bread, rolls, muffins and scones from Our Daily Bread, coffee from Liquid Assets, grass fed beef from Black Queen Angus Farm, pastured chicken from Bar None Ranch in Berlin, flowers from Angel’s Trumpet, Mexican food from Magdalena’s Menu, moisturizing creams and beeswax candles from Saving Face and crafts from the Abode of the Message.
The Farmers Market is open every Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm. Although she has had a lot of support from the Town and from the Lebanon Valley Business Association, the driving force behind the Market and now Managing Director is Carin de Jong. De Jong came down from Vermont in 2007 and soon joined the Hand Hollow CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
She found that agriculture was strong in the area and when the New Lebanon Supermarket closed last year she knew that the community could fill in the gap with something better. So she set out lining up support. The LVBA came up with a huge grant, Lori Bashour, owner of the Midtown Mall, agreed to provide the location for no charge, Ruby Duke developed a site plan and a good corps of volunteers began helping out. But de Jong also went about organizing and getting permits largely on her own because she viewed the Supermarket’s loss as an emergency situation and she wanted to get it going quickly. “Things often get stuck in committees,” she said.
De Jong and her Board, composed of two farmers, the President of the LVBA and herself, work now for no pay, but eventually she would like to have a couple of managers compensated so as to provide a solid structural organization with staying power.
Basically de Jong wanted healthy and locally produced meat, vegetables and bread to be available at reasonable prices for people living in the community. If the vendors can make a little profit from selling to second home owners and people passing through, that’s fine too. But de Jong’s purpose was to provide convenient and healthy shopping for the community and more importantly for the neediest in the community who often are more in need of healthy food. That’s why she wanted to make sure that the Farmers Market was set up to accept food stamps and vouchers from the Farmers Market Nutrition Program covering those in WIC (Women, Infants & Children Program) as well as seniors in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. CSA’s are fine, she said, but for various reasons they are not for everyone.
De Jong recognizes that not all local producers can operate a booth at the Market on Sundays. For that reason there is a community table where they can bring and leave their products and have them sold. The Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, for example, has been selling their award winning sheep’s milk cheese at the community table. Another of the user-friendly innovations at the Market is a children’s play area right in the center with food related books and toys where children can safely play while their parents shop. “Innovation,” de Jong said, “is what made our country.”
To enhance good nutrition in the Valley, some projects de Jong has in mind for down the road include a buyers club, cooking classes and a commercial kitchen where producers can prepare their food for sale. She is looking into writing a grant to support such a kitchen. “It’s a strong community here,” de Jong said, “but aside from the Library, there’s no real center point.” The Farmers Market she believes could also be a place to have community events for both kids and adults.
So far, de Jong said, the response from both vendors and buyers has exceeded all her expectations. Travelers are stopping by but she also sees members of the community doing their weekly shopping at the Market. “It feels like it has roots already,” she said. “It’s a very exciting thing to be part of.”
