In Prince George's County, Crystal Lal was the driving force behind the Cheverly Farmers Market. Years of traveling from her Cheverly neighborhood to farmers markets in other parts of the county, rising gas prices and a heightened awareness of environmental issues led Lal to look into a neighborhood market. Her challenge was to find farmers willing to participate mid-season.
“It was very difficult finding farmers,” she says, “because the demand for farmers far exceeds the supply.” She felt like holding a test market in October would be a good way to build support for the spring, since she was not asking farmers for a commitment just yet. Scott Hertzberg with Jug Bay Farm was the first farmer to agree. “Scott was my foot in the door – he was local, he was certified organic, and he wasn’t already committed,” she says, because he and his wife Tanya sell their produce directly to consumers through their community supported agriculture (CSA) program.
The response to the test market, which included one other farmer and products from local bakers, cheesemakers and others, was so phenomenal that Hertzberg agreed to do two additional markets, including a Thanksgiving market the week before the holiday. At that market, Mike Klein of Good Fortune Farm, also a CSA farmer, delivered fresh pastured turkeys, and other vendors brought apples, fall squash and veggies, oysters from Southern Maryland and gourmet pies. Two Maryland wineries also participated. “Once we had the idea that we might have a couple wineries,” Lal says, “everything was geared around one-stop local shopping for your Thanksgiving table. I think everybody was really happy. I’ve heard so many positive things from people who sat at their Thanksgiving table” with all their Maryland products. “They really knew where their food came from.”
Lal credits much of the success of the fledgling market to the Town of Cheverly, which stepped in with the offer of the community center parking lot as a location and allowed the market to use the gym inside when the weather turned rainy. She also says coverage in The Gazette newspaper raised awareness and created excitement.
The Cheverly community turned out in great numbers for the markets, but Lal still has the task of getting farmers to commit for an entire season ahead of her for 2008. Although she began the market with the idea that it would be a producer-only market, meaning vendors could sell only what they produced themselves, she came to realize how restrictive that can be for a new market getting off the ground. By defining the parameters a little differently – “We don’t want food that’s shipped in, we don’t want genetically modified food, and we don’t want pesticides and chemicals” – she feels they can create a market that is efficient for both the consumer and the farmer, while respecting the needs of the environment and the desire for clean, healthful, local food.
Recalling how she was so occupied with logistical details on the day of the first market that she went home empty-handed, Lal is understandably a bit daunted by the prospect of organizing a full-season market. “To really think about doing this every week and the time it takes and trying to feed your own family,” she says, “that’s going to be my challenge.” However, it’s likely she will accept that challenge. “I always think about how my mother used to say, ‘Don’t put that in your mouth! You don’t know where it’s been!’,” she says. That made Lal think about what she eats and, she says, “I guess I’m still doing that!”
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