August 14, 2012:
Trendsetting Boulder County Farmers’ Market Celebrates 25 Years
People visit the farmer’s market to buy fresh produce and connect with their friends.
There is a special feel to Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, strolling in the stream of people down the short slice of 13thstreet between Arapahoe and Canyon. I’m swept for a moment, amidst scores of lushly stocked booths operated by Boulder County farmers and food artisans, out of the city and into something else; a sense of soil, of farmland, of fresh food cultivated by those who live a different way. And all the time and toil that I’ve put into creating my modern life is somehow reconnected to an essential source that feeds not just my body, but also my heart.
This is the experience of one of the nation’s leading farmers’ markets. The Boulder market bustles on these days, with shoppers there to buy fresh produce and colorful wool, canned goods, dairy, meat, fresh cut flowers. But also we are also there to socialize. I go to the market to connect with friends as much as to pick up a few items. It’s tough to snag a free parking space, and sometimes I walk or ride bikes along Boulder Creek. I join with families, college students, athletes, and foodies to enjoy the throng and take in the visual feast. It’s easy to run into friends and neighbors, after morning exercise, dropping by with children to grab lunch, groceries for the week, and enjoy music.
Dog lovers, until recently, led their pets up and down, welcoming affection and admiration from other pet lovers. Pets have now been banned from all of the Boulder County Farmers’ Market, due to issues of safety both for pets and people. To me, this makes sense: Keeping my daughter close while wading through the central action used to be pretty tough amidst large dogs and cute puppies. Now the only trouble we have is navigating bulky strollers.
The food court at the Boulder market thrives with delicious food and musical entertainment. Kids enjoy art projects in front of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, fondly known as BMoCa, and a spacious grassy green between the bike path and band shell where families spread out blankets and visit each other while children run around enjoying market snacks, play in the creek, and climb trees.
Parking and strolling space are plentiful at the Saturday morning Longmont Market where the atmosphere is more laid-back and spacious. In Longmont, I can pull up in the dirt lot surrounding the Boulder County Fairgrounds, ballpark whether I’ve left enough space for neighboring cars to leave, quickly confirm my car is not boxed in, and jump out. It feels reasonable to take my daughter and a friend and let them explore the booths ahead. Produce is bountiful—I buy packets of lettuce my non-vegetable loving child will request every night once she’s tried it; ripe robust tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, red peppers flecked with a little bit of green. I find seasoned nuts, fresh baked pies, the sweetest breads, potted herbs, quinoa energy bars, gourmet pickled vegetables, and artisans selling their jewelry and other crafts. My daughter sits for an hour at The Dotted Hen, within the Ollin Farms tent and learn from two artists, Ana Maria Botero and Veronica Munive what it would be like to take their art farm camp.
Longmont’s Farmers’ Market offers a spacious walkway and easy parking.
ROOTS THAT GO DEEP
The market in Boulder has been offering this glimpse into agriculture for over two decades. This summer, market organizer’s celebrated Boulder County Farmers’ Market enormous success by hosting a series of June events in honor of its 25th Anniversary. “There’s not a national farmer’s day,” says Shanan Olson, Interim Executive Director of the Boulder County Farmers’ Market and a farmer herself. “There’s not a national agriculture day. This 25th season, we really want to offer a chance to interact with the people that grow the food. We want to celebrate the farmer and the craft of agriculture.”
The Boulder market has grown from its first Saturday morning event in 1987, to hosting several dozen booths, to what’s now three farmer’s markets; two in Boulder on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday Mornings, one in Longmont on Saturday mornings.
Boulder County Farmers’ Market started operating the Longmont market 11 years ago in 2003 and has quickly developed into a pleasurable Saturday excursion uniquely its own. The Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning markets in the city of Boulder offer about 120 booths; the Saturday morning market in Longmont offers about 70 booths.
Boulder County Farmers’ Market is a non-profit organization owned by growers and run by a members-only board. Farmers pay a $50 fee to apply for membership and members who meet market criteria, such as they are the grower of the produce they sell or the maker of their wares, gain permission by the board to sell at the market. There are about 45 grower members on Saturdays in Boulder, and 25 on Saturdays in Longmont, with some overlap, says Shanan Olson. Other people may sell at the markets, but if they don’t grow their own product, then they aren’t eligible to be an actual member of the market. For example, a farmer who brings his own produce to the market can become a grower member; a person who sells a product at the market, such as a canned good or a bread, that was made from food someone else grew, is not eligible to be a member of the market.
The Boulder market was counted among the nation’s top ten farmers’ markets this May by USA Today Travel, and in May 2011 by the Huffington Post. Boulder is a national model for other communities hoping to start a growers only market. It’s estimated that during the busiest days in August and September, more than 18,000 people per day visit Boulder’s market. Last year, the Boulder markets brought in combined gross revenues of $5 million. Much of this is returned to the growers who sold at the market, and any extra goes to cover basic costs such as leasing the space for the markets, preparing the space for the events, costs for running the market offices, including wages for a staff of three. Any money leftover goes into a reserve account to cover emergency expenses.
As with many innovative ideas, the idea for the farmers’ markets began with a conversation in 1986 between the growers themselves. An earlier market venture on Pearl Street in front of the Courthouse predating the pedestrian mall, ended after a decade-run. That market was organized by David Bolduc and Richard Foy through the Downtown Boulder Association. The farmers thought it might be great to start a growers only market, a new concept for its time, and the Boulder County Farmer’s Market was born.
“What’s noteworthy about the market is that, from day one, we have been a growers only marketplace,” says Olson. “We’ve stayed true to that value.” Even sellers such as Noosa, a company that makes the luxuriously creamy yoghurt, or Cappellos, a company that creates gluten-free gnocci and pasta so delicious there’s no sense of compromise, make their own foods, rather than selling a food that someone else made. Many of these companies are new, but stroll around and check out all of the booths, because some of the market’s founding farmers still operate booths today and it’s fun to chat with them. Track down Chet Anderson, who now owns The Fresh Herb Company and Bob Munson, of Munson Farms. Miller Farms was there at the first markets, as were Sue and Mark Parsons of Sweetheart Farms, and Lyle Davis of Pastures of Plenty.
Boulder Farmers’ Markets offer abundant produce and a chance to check in with farmers about growing and harvesting.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE MARKETS?
The markets continue to grow and change in unique ways. For example, market food booths use compostable bowls, plates, cups, and utensils. This is because the market board decided in 2004 to work with EcoCycle to become a zero-waste event. Grants funded their first efforts, but now the owners of the food booths pay for the cost of providing recyclable flatware and other items for eating.
Last weekend at the Longmont market, a woman in her mid-fifties selected a pound of fresh mushrooms to buy to use for dinner that night, then realized she only had a credit card. “No problem,” said the farmer who set aside the bag for a moment. “You can use your credit card to buy market bucks.” She directed the woman to a booth run by market organizers, where market buck coupons were for sale. Market Bucks come in $5 increments and can be purchased with cash or credit. Most of the merchants take cash, and market bucks, but aren’t set up for credit cards. Market bucks hold their value the entire season, and if there are any leftover come winter, last year’s market bucks may still be used through April the following season and at the winter holiday market held in December at the Longmont fairgrounds.
The parking situation is improving, too. In early August the Boulder Farmers’ Market coordinated with a bicycle delivery service that delivers the food you buy to your home, or to your car, says Olson.
Another new change at the market in Boulder is that now on Wednesday evenings shoppers may enjoy the entire stretch of 13th street between Arapahoe and Canyon, and more music acts on Wednesday evening. The street space in Boulder was widened last year to allow for large crowds. Several concrete islands that extended into the street were removed and growers who set up on the West side were pushed back three feet. In Longmont, market organizers worked with Boulder County to pour new sidewalks and put in electricity.
The next big change at the market is to get the restaurants that set up in the food court to source more local ingredients for their products. The transition started two years ago and has been gradual, says Olson, but it represents the market’s commitment to support local growers in all of the products sold at the market and shows the market’s deep relationship with and commitment to Boulder County agriculture. “Most venders have been receptive to buying local,” she says. “It’s going to be a gradual shift.”
All of this makes for an enriched environment in which the relationship between the farmers and the community can develop and thrive. “We hope to share the stories of what it takes to produce the food people buy,” says Olson. “Some of our farms don’t get first water from their ditches until April or May; yet the market starts that first Saturday in April. Where do they get their water? People love to know when you plant something. The farmer’s market is the place you can go to really be part of the agriculture community. We are the foodiest place to be because we actually represent the farmer, and fundamentally we are sharing stories that in a profound way, help connect you to your food.”
FIND THE FARMERS’ MARKETS
In Boulder, on 13th street between Arapahoe Avenue and Canyon Boulevard:
- 8 a.m to 2 p.m. Saturdays through November 17
- 4 p.m. to 8 pm. Wednesdays through October 3
In Longmont, at Boulder County Fairgrounds, 9595 Nelson Road:
- 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through November 3
For more info: boulderfarmers.org
