Summer farmers market comes to East Forest Park

July 14, 2016 | Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD – Add one more farmers market to the plethora of sites springing up across the Valley this summer.

On July 22 from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., the city’s East Forest Park neighborhood will host the first of two planned summer markets in the parking lot of Springfield College’s Brennan’s Center at 45 Island Pond Road. The second market will take place on Aug. 26, also from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Vira Craig, a lifelong neighborhood resident and member of the East Forest Park Civic Association, is coordinating the effort to bring farm-fresh goods to her part of the city.

“There’s farmers markets popping up in neighborhoods across the city, so we thought we would want to have one in our sector,” Craig said, adding that a quick poll of residents and Civic Association members showed plenty of support for the idea.

She initially reached out to the nearby farmers market that operates on Tuesdays in Forest Park, but “they have a very successful market on their own,” Craig said, and did not want to take on another site. With help from fellow resident Brian Jennings, who through his connections “made it possible with Springfield college to let us use their parking lot at the Brennan Center,” Craig secured a spot for the event and began contacting area farms.

Craig said she used this year’s “Locally Grown” guide, produced by the Deerfield-based nonprofit Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture to find farmers who might be willing to participate in the new market. She was very specific about the kinds of products she wanted for East Forest Park.

“I read each article on each farm to make sure [products] are organically grown and the ones I picked are the ones I thought would be best at our market based on what they grow,” Craig said. Initially she’s secured agreements with “three farmers with an assortment and an array of items that they are going to bring. It’s going to be fresh produce [and] baked goods, along with honey and meats.”

Cage-free eggs and jams and jellies will also be available at the market on the July 22, and Craig has secured a health permit that will allow her to make fresh sandwiches on home-baked bread. She hopes to have a limited number of neighborhood handcrafters also participate in the two markets, and has health permit information available for East Forest Park residents interested in selling fresh-made goods at the Aug. 26 market.

Craig asked that individuals interested in displaying crafts or selling fresh goods in August contact her at the July 22 market to obtain the necessary forms.

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