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COVER STORY: Close to home

Farmers Markets helps farmers get
their produce to their neighbors

By Rachel Hatch

Business is usually about dollars and cents, but in this case it is also about eggs, squash and potatoes.

The Bloomington Downtown Farmer’s Market has developed over the years, drawing people to the city’s refurbishing downtown, and in some cases, providing businesses a local edge.

“Businesses can distinguish themselves by selling local produce,” said Bill Davidson, owner of Blue Schoolhouse Farms near Congerville, which has been selling at the market for nearly five years. “The food I sell is picked the day before or the day it gets to market,” he said. “It looks better, tastes better and cooks up great.”

On a cool summer morning, Davidson smiles to a customer as he pulls a bag around a bunch of carrots. “It’s a good morning,” he said. “It usually is here.”

Just down the street is one of Davidson’s steady customers, Katha Koenes, owner of Common Ground in downtown Bloomington. “The produce from Bill tastes much better than anything we can order,” said Koenes, who buys lettuce, onions, parsley and other items from Blue Schoolhouse Farms. “He is a good farmer and the produce is absolutely gorgeous.”

Along with seeing the fresh produce the market brings, Kelly Mathy, owner of Kelly’s Bakery and Café in Bloomington, said a benefit is meeting the farmers. “I like the fact that I can talk to the person who grew the produce,” said Mathy. “I feel better about the food I can serve people.”

Mathy also knows how tough it is to be a small business owner, like many of the farms at the market. “My husband and I try to support small businesses whenever we can, and buying from farmers at the market means we are buying locally.” Mathy will buy as much as 40 pounds of tomatoes a week from Merrick Farms as well as other produce, and decorates tables with fresh flowers purchased weekly from 3 Petunias.

“The market is a great way to support small, local farmers who have a hard time making a profit selling wholesale,” said Elaine Sebald, coordinator of the Bloomington Farmer’s Market for the last eight years. It helps that farmers keep 100 percent of their profits after paying an annual fee of $150 to the city for setting up their booths from May to October.

The town of Normal follows suit. “Some of the uptown businesses have rally latched onto using local producers,” said Nora Durkowitz, uptown marketing manager for Normal and liaison to the Uptown Normal Trailside Market.

The two local markets attract many of the same farmers, and are held on different days to accommodate them. “We didn’t want to compete with downtown Bloomington,” said Durkowitz of the decision to hold the uptown market in Normal every Tuesday night during the May to October season. “We like the idea that people can grab local, fresh produce on their way home from work,” she said.

The symbiotic relationship between the farmers’ markets and nearby businesses now seems an easy conclusion. But the question of whether Bloomington’s market could survive in the downtown area was one that made farmers nervous. “Farmers were worried people would not come,” said Sebald, who oversaw the move of the Bloomington market to the square around the McLean County Museum of History back in 1999. Shoppers were used to pulling into the old Lincoln Parking Garage location, picking up produce and leaving, said Sebald. “Not a lot was going on downtown back then, and farmers worried we would lose customers.”

The customers did come, and so did the businesses. “By the second year, we saw more businesses opening up earlier on Saturday mornings,” said Sebald. “Then the business owners came out to see what was attracting the people. I guess you could say the owners and farmers found each other.”

Now when you visit the Bloomington Farmers’ Market, you won’t just see fruits and vegetables, you’ll see painting, purses and jewelry. Artists, a perhaps unlikely companion, joined the Bloomington market in 2004. “At first, we were worried that artists were a little high-end. Art can cost a little more than tomatoes,” Sebald laughed. The fears turned out to be unfounded, and more artists were admitted, with around 17 artists currently sell items. “They have always sold well and add a wonderful feeling to the farmers’ market,” she said.

Artists must have their work go through a jury process before they are accepted, unlike farmers who are judged by a committee of current farmers selling at the market. “It’s important to see quality foods that can fill a niche or be complementary of what others are selling,” said Sebal of the process.

The markets are going strong in both Bloomington and Normal, though the uptown market has had to contend with ongoing construction projects. “We’ve had to limit the number of farmers from 25 to 15 this year because we were worried if they would have enough space,” said Durkowitz, who noted they add farmers from the waiting list as space becomes available.

The Uptown Market will move from the lot just west of Constitution Trail to the Parkinson lot, between the Amtrak station and Linden Street on Parkinson Street, in order to anticipate future construction as well as growth of the market.

The market is being factored into plans for the town, including a planned spot in the Gateway Plaza by the Children’s Discovery Museum. “Our goal is to grow it as big as we can grow it,” she said.

The Bloomington market is growing as well with around 43 farmers attending. The success led to a new November feature. “Last year we added a market day the Saturday before Thanksgiving,” said Sebald. “It was huge, quite a success, so we are bringing that back.”

Farmers like Davidson will be there. He smiles at his two sons, 4-year-old Noah and 3-year-old Ben, who pretend to sell items with a toy cash register near their parents’ booth. “The next generation of farmers,” he said with a laugh.

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Bill Davison, right, answers Jennifer Swartout at Blue Schoolhouse Farm booth during Farmer's Market in Bloomington. (CARLOS T. MIRANDA)

Ed Hernandez, owner of Twin City Bonsai, answers questions at the Farmers’ Market. (CARLOS T. MIRANDA)

Williams Henrichs, 11, of Normal, looks for lettuce with the help of Patt Mitchell, of Mitchell Farms Produce, during the Farmers’ Market. (CARLOS T. MIRANDA)

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