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Now, Jahoda makes maple butter himself and sells it out of his farm, Sugar Maple Farms in Lebanon. Jahoda usually attempts to turn skeptics into believers by providing them with a small taste of the soft, yellow mixture from a plastic spoon.
“If they taste it, they’ll like it,” Jahoda said.
Visitors to New Haven’s Wooster Square Farmers’ Market on Jan. 19, hosted by CitySeed, were afforded the opportunity to taste many of the items sold at the market, including Jahoda’s famous maple butter. This is part of what makes farmers’ markets unique, said Jennifer McTiernan, executive director of CitySeed.
The Wooster Square Market began in 2004 when four neighbors, including McTiernan, had the idea of bringing a farmers’ market to their community to test residents’ reactions. The results were very positive.
“On the first day, our vendors were completely sold out within two hours,” McTiernan said. “That made it pretty clear to us that this community really embraced the idea of the market.”
Initially, the Wooster Square market ran from May until the end of October. The following year, two markets took place in December on a trial basis, and they were successful. Gradually, the market grew to its current schedule of once a month January through April and weekly beginning in May.
“It’s been amazing,” McTiernan said. “Sure, it’s cold outside, but if you know this is the one day you’ll go outside for this, people are really happy to do it and to be able to access local food all year round.”
On Jan. 19, visitors and vendors alike seemed unconcerned about the cold weather and overcast skies. Shoppers took their time perusing the wares and talking to the vendors. They grabbed the opportunity to interact with the farmers and to learn a little bit about what goes into the growing or production process of the items for sale. This kind of dialogue is one of the ways the experience of a farmer’s market is unique to both shoppers and vendors.
“People are very interested in supporting local businesses and sustainable products,” said Debbie McCormack, a vendor. McCormack makes handcrafted soap and other body products, all with fair-trade and natural ingredients.
“I think that people like to come and talk to other people. They have very passionate viewpoints about the world,” she said.
Soap is not something that people would necessarily expect to find at a farmer’s market, but McCormack said that business is steady.
“I think people appreciate seeing something unique and different,” McCormack said.
There are also the more customary items for sale at the market, including: sustainably raised beef; eggs; heavy cream; butter; yogurt; goat cheese; sheep/cow’s-milk cheese; lamb; shellfish such as lobsters, clams and oysters; bread/jam; root vegetables such as carrots; maple syrup; honey; salad greens.
Each year, more and more people seek out farmers’ markets, making money for the farmers and helping the economy of the area around each market.
CitySeed, an organization whose mission is “to engage the community in growing an equitable, local food system that promotes economic development, community development and sustainable agriculture,” tracks the economic impact of its markets. It’s measured by a formula called the Sticky Economic Evaluator Device. The income is referred to as “sticky” because it stays in the community.
In 2007, the economic impact was $1.6 million, an increase of $300,000 from 2006. This amount refers to money made by the vendors at the markets as well as money made by local businesses as a result of the markets.
“The coffee shop down the street from the market hires an extra person on the days of our markets and the wine shop opens early, all because of the traffic generated by the market,” McTiernan said. “These are demonstrable benefits to area businesses. When you also consider that the farms will take money they make and pay local laborers and use local banks, you really start to see how far-reaching the impact is.”
Usually most farms don’t have income this time of year so the markets are a “shot in the arm.”
Dave Bassette, of Killam and Bassette Farms in South Glastonbury, is a newcomer to the market. He sells jams with interesting names such as American Apple Pie and Hot Pepper and said that he has enjoyed the Wooster Square Market so far.
“Business is good,” he said. “This market draws in more business that some others in the state.”
The next farmer’s market is Saturday, March 15 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit www.cityseed.org.
