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S ummer has arrived and, as always, it ushers in a quieter,
more relaxed downtown Athens. Whether it's because of
the relentless heat or the exodus of university students,
everything just seems to move a little more slowly. And what
better way to embrace the simplicity of the season than by
enjoying some freshly picked strawberries or* summer salad
made from seasonal ingredients, all found at our very own
Athens Farmers Market? The Saturday market will continue to
be held at Bishop fork, but organizers hope you may be more
inclined to check out the midweek market this summer because
of its new, more centralized and visible location.
Beginning Wednesday, May 16 and continuing until the
market doses for the colder months in October, the midweek
market will operate on Wednesday evenings from 4-7 p.m. on
the sidewalks lining College Avenue and Washington Street
right in front of City Halt The Bishop Bark market will continue
to be held on Saturday mornings from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. At both
markets, patrons will find only fresh, Certified Naturauy Grown
food, which is equivalent to USDA Organic standards, only
without the bureaucratic involvement of the USDA. In addition
to purchasing local foods, visitors can shop to the sounds of
local musicians.
'It will probably be a few weeks' before live music comes
to the new downtown location, says Jerry NeSmith, the mar
ket's treasurer and a member of its board of directors, 'but
we will have local musidans at this location as welL AU local -
musidans.'
The Athens Fanners Market has grown considerably since its
first season in 2008. Two years after opening at Bishop Park,
the market added the downtown location at Little Kings Shuffle
Club. But the market has outgrown the small courtyard/'Joey
[Tatum] at Little Kings was gradous enough to let us use his
courtyard,' says NeSmith, 'but our space there has been very
limited.'
While the Bishop Park market has about 40 venders, the <
market at Little Kings could only accommodate about 14. "We
want to make this move because we're trying to expand the
market and include more farmers,' says Jay Payne of Cedar
Grove Farm, the president of the market's board.
Late last winter, with the encouragement of Katherine
Lookofsky of the Athens Downtown Development Authority, the
board of directors applied for a spedal events permit to oper
ate on College Square. The application was rejected because of
objections to dosing a street in the middle of downtown for 30
consecutive weeks. The location outside of City Hall was dis
cussed as an alternative, but there was no ordinance in place
to allow it. On May 1, the Athens-Clarke County Commission
passed a modified street sales ordinance that can accommo
date the market.
Some aspects of the Little Kings market will be hard to
replace. *1 will miss being able to drink a beer while I shop for
groceries,' says Anne Devine, a frequent patron. But the new
location will have advantages of its own.
In addition to being enthusiastic about the ability to
expand, those affiliated with the market are excited to relocate
to a more visible part of downtown. 'We believe that this cen
tral location will be more accessible, enabling us to share what
we do with lower income people in Athens,' says Payne. The
market has accepted EBT cards from the federal Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (what used to be known as food
stamps) since its 2010 season. Partnering with the nonprofit
Wholesome Wave Georgia, the Farmers Market is able to match
EBT purchases dollar for dollar, doubling the purchasing power
of shoppers using these benefits.
For farmers, this means that lower-income people are able
to buy more produce than they would otherwise be able to
afford. The partnership with the state chapter
of the national Wholesome Wave organization
is exciting to local food advocates who want to
extend the environmental and health benefits of
local agriculture to include social justice initia
tives addressing widespread poverty and hunger in
our community.
So far, the program has been very successful in
Athens. 'Every year, we've seen between 50 and
100 percent growth of the program," says market
manager Jan Kozak. "We have, on iverage, about
30 [EBT] swipes at our markets... sometimes it
goes up to 50 or 60 swipes per week.'
The Wholesome Wave Georgia program is cur
rently at 14 farmers markets across the state.
Last year, EBT users spent $21,000 of benefits
from the federal program at the Athens Farmers
Market: Wholesome Wave matched this amount,
doubling it to $42,000 in locally grown food for
low-income members of the community.
The Athens Farmers Market is dedicated to
spreading the word about the Wholesome Wave
program to those it can benefit. Earlier this year,
the market partnered with the Northeast Georgia
Food Bank, providing materials to distribute to
patrons of the food bank to tell them about the
program. "We've gone to churches, we speak to
civic groups... we've done a lot of things to try
and get the word out,' says Payne. 'But I think
this partnership with [the food bank]—-I hope—
is going to really reach the people we want to
affect with this program.'
Payne says the Wholesome Wave program works
in the interests of everyone in Athens because
eating nutritious food will lead to lower health
care costs and better performance in schools,
benefiting the entire community. The program has support from
a broad coalition of stakeholders, including Kaiser Permanente
of Georgia, which donated $10,000 to the Georgia chapter with
the hope of addressing obesity-related illness.
. NeSmith points out an additional benefit of the more cen
tral and visible location: "Several downtown restaurants have
already expressed interest and will be buying their food from
the farmers market.'
NeSmith says it will also bring more people to downtown
Athens and benefit all of the downtown merchants. "The mar
ket itself affects the local economy more than spending dollars
in the grocery store,' he says. "You're spending dollars with
someone who's local, and they're going to be spending those •
dollars locally.'
Most of all, the Farmers Market's leaders stress community:
Payne says he wants it to be the theme of this year's market.
'It's an awareness of being part of a community,' he says. "We
couldn't do what we do without the community supporting us,
and we tty to provide a very positive service and benefit to the
community in return.'
Melissa Hovanes
8 FlAGPOLE.COM • MAY 16,2012