Athens Farmers Market warrants a visit
By Veronica DeSantos, Campus Life Writer
September 25, 2007 | 12:53 a.m.
Fall quarter in Athens is full of colorful leaves falling, that crisp chill in the air and best of all, harvesttime. If students are looking for those perfectly homegrown apples and fresh pumpkins straight from the vine, they don't have to look further than the Athens Farmers Market.
What is this strange thing called the Farmers Market?
The Athens Farmers Market, which is located outside of the University Mall on East State Street, is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays year-round and Wednesdays in April through November. The market is a place to buy homemade or locally grown items, such as fruit and vegetables. At first glance, the Farmers Market doesn’t seem like it has much to offer to students. However, once they start walking around, they realize just how many great resources the market has.
The combined smells of fresh flowers, freshly baked bread, jams and jellies, and fruit and vegetables are enough to make anyone want to wake up early on a Saturday morning. “We’ve been coming to the Farmers Market for about seven years,” said Jack Cantrell of Cantrell Honey and Candles. Cantrell has been a beekeeper for more than 35 years, and his wife, Dixie, has made more than 20,000 candles in the past seven years.
"We sell honey and candles produced here in Athens County, and we just enjoy meeting the people,” Cantrell said. According to its Web site, www.athensfarmersmarket.org, the Athens Farmers Market first began on a summer day in 1972 with only three producers selling their products. Since then, the market has continued to grow in popularity, and the number of producers is now close to 100.
Ann Fugate, president of the Farmers Market, has been participating and selling products at the market since 1980. “We have about 90 members now,” Fugate said. “On a good day in the summer, we will have 65 of those people show up [to sell].”
The mission statement of the market, as stated on its Web site, is that “[t]he Athens Farmers Market shall operate on a not-for-profit basis. It shall serve its members and the public through education on the benefits to the community that result from supporting a locally based food economy and by providing a public market allowing direct connections between producers and consumers of local food and agricultural products.”
Fugate said that vendors at the market are only allowed to sell products that they themselves have produced or grown. “If it grows in this area, somebody sells it,” Fugate said. In addition to fresh foods, the market has a lot of processed foods, such as jams, jellies and baked goods.
What draws people to the Farmers Market?
“We absolutely adore the Farmers Market,” said Jeroch Carlson, an employee of Crumbs Bakery. Carlson said that he thinks the Farmers Market is an important tool to bring the community of Athens together. He likes the fact that a huge assortment of organic and handcrafted items are offered at the market.
“I think it’s really important to the people that come here, so they can have a healthy alternative and something that really comes from local farms and shops,” Carlson said. He added that everything at the Farmers Market is delicious, making it hard to stay away.
“It’s just nice to come here,” Geraldine Howard said. She and her husband, Gregory, sell organic eggs, vegetables and flowers at the market.
"We would come here anyways," Howard said. "We would come to buy, so we started selling. We’ve been doing it since 1996. I like to sell good products, and this way, I know that if I’m eating it, I’m not selling something bad to someone else, and we have organic, so that’s even better.”
“Why do I like the market?” Fugate asked. “Well, it’s just a lot of people, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s just a great market, that’s all.”
Fugate said that the Athens student population isn’t the biggest customer, but in recent years, the number of student buyers has grown. “I think it's catching on,” she said. “It’s a different place for the students to go.... They have fun.”
What if I wanted to start selling products at the Farmers Market?
“If someone wanted to be a member, they would have to call one of the market managers and sign up,” Fugate said. “We are requiring people to fill out an enrollment form and pay a fee, and they have to read the rules and know that they have to abide by them.”
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For more information on the Athens Farmers Market, visit its Web site at www.athensfarmersmarket.org.