Drive along Route 9 in Brattleboro on a Saturday between May and October and you could find yourself in an unexpected traffic jam. As you approach Living Memorial Park, you will see that most of the cars are headed to the Brattleboro Area Farmers’ Market. “It’s really like a country fair,” says David Schoales, the market’s manager.
The market started informally over 30 years ago when a couple of farmers set up shop in a parking lot.Today, it leases three adjacent parcels near the park and has grown to include 50 vendors that sell local produce, prepared foods, baked goods, and crafts.There is always live music and space for kids to play. “A couple of thousand people come every Saturday,” says David. “It has become quite a gathering place.”
With growth, there have been challenges. Success brought more people to the market, which brought more cars; some Saturdays, traffic would back up in both directions along Route 9 as the neighborhood tried to accommodate all the market’s customers. Another challenge was that the market was spread out on three parcels of land, none of which offered a long-term lease.
Despite these challenges, it became clear that moving was not a desirable option. “We polled vendors and the public and they all wanted to stay in the current location,” says Janet Bailey, who owns Fair Winds Farm in Brattleboro with her husband, Jay, and has sold everything from cage-free eggs to homemade donuts during her 28 years as a market vendor. “It’s a place that is conducive to gathering. It’s green, it’s shaded, it’s near a brook, and it’s centrally located for Brattleboro and for surrounding communities.”
Janet volunteered to chair a Site Futures Committee, which explored the idea of expanding into an adjacent parcel. “It was the site of an old creamery, 1.2 acres between us and the park that could be used for market parking,” she explains. “A feasibility study indicated it was the right move for us, we just had to raise the money to buy it.”
The market and VLT joined forces to fundraise for the parcel, but because of the urgency of the project VLT agreed to provide bridge funding of almost $40,000 for the purchase of the creamery lot from our revolving fund for land conservation. With time, the market and VLT raised the full $140,000 and purchased the land in December 2006. “Most of the money came from local, private donors,” says Janet of the community’s response. “It was just amazing.”
The creamery lot is separated from the rest of the market site by Whetstone Brook. Once a footbridge is built, visitors will be able to park there and walk across the brook, which should alleviate congestion and make it easier for customers like Diana Bander to make their weekly trip. Going to the market has been part of her routine for 18 years. “Everything I eat comes from the market,” she says. “I don’t even have to wash the tomatoes. I trust whatever I’m getting there because I know who it’s coming from.”
One and a quarter acres might not sound like much land, but it is allowing the market to expand sustainably so that farmers and the community may continue to share the benefits of locally grown food.
