Orchid Jones
For The New Era
The rising price of gas and the increasing demand for fresh organic fruits and vegetables are making farmers markets a reality again. Consumers and businesses are expressing renewed interest these days in buying locally from the farmer or grower.
At one time buying locally was common, but with the current shift in our global economy it has become more profitable for big businesses to buy cheaper goods and produce over seas. With improved transportation and modern mass merchandising, buying locally was deemed unprofitable for big business and grocery stores.
Farmers markets bring farmer to customer by cutting the middle man out and creating community involvement, friendly atmospheres, education on food production, and a return to supporting each other in our busy lives.
In fact, just by shopping at a local vendor’s table you are cutting on fossil fuels, diminishing the support of child labor, and choosing food that is free of harmful additives that could hurt you and your environment.
By shopping at a farmer’s market you are becoming an educated consumer using your dollar to shape the way our world works.
In Sweet Home, a little market is paving the way for other communities to feel confident in supporting local markets.
Janice and Larry Neilson of Fraga Farms, a certified organic goat dairy, sell goat cheese at the market. Janice is also the market manager.
“I want to bring the community together and become more sustainable in the process,” she said. “In Linn County we have a such a variety of high quality food that we produce ourselves, why should we travel to Corvallis when we have it right here? We have all the resources we need if we just get together and help each other out. ”
Inspired by a vision to create community and return to relying on each other in the changing global times, the Sweet Home Farmer’s Market is here to do it.
There is a community booth at the market which holds space for educators and members of the community to create awareness and education on what is happening in our own backyards such as the Manna Garden Project. Manna Garden supports the Manna Meal, a free meal held at the United Methodist Church on 6th Avenue every Friday night at 5 p.m. Volunteers grow food for the meal in the Manna Garden, located next to the church.
Anyone who wants to volunteer in the garden is welcome. Anything extra that is not eaten gets sold at the Sweet Home Farmers Market and these sales help with the maintenance of the garden itself. The community booth also supports smaller family gardens who want to sell extra produce.
The regular vendors at the Sweet Home Farmer’s market include Fraga Farms (organic goat cheese), FF Farms (honey, lavender), Mountain Fresh (plant starts, flowers), Clearview Farm (plant starts, produce), Midnight Oil Farms (goat milk soap, eggs), and Bread of Angels (fresh baked bread and cookies), Persephone (certified organic produce) and Artful Maples (Japanese maple trees).
The Sweet Home Farmers Market are always looking to expand, if you have produce or goods to sell and want a spot in the market please contact the Market Manager Janice Neilson at (541) 367-3891.
Every Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Thriftway parking lot in Sweet Home, you will find the Sweet home Farmers Market – a lovely environment to shop for good food and share stories with your neighbors and local farmers. There is live music which rotates every week.
Every time we buy food, every time we eat, we are part of the agricultural process. It is our choice if we want to shorten the supply chains and bring consumption, production, and sales back into the community which sustains us. Support your local economy, shop at Sweet Home Farmers Market.