The Central New York Regional Market, which is open on Saturdays year-round, will also be open on Thursdays. While attendees may be looking forward to this, vendors said they have been waiting for the Thursday market days since last fall, which last from May until November. 

As large as Syracuse is, the farmers market makes it resemble a small town, said Mike Blair, the production manager of Abbott Farms, in an email. By going to the market, he said, families can find high-quality foods at reasonable prices, provide feedback to the producers of the foods they’re consuming and support the local economy.

The farmers market exemplifies a cycle that never dies out, Blair said. Farmers spend their own money on supplies, property, equipment and labor necessary to produce a crop, he said, and then consumers pay the farmers directly, allowing the farmers to spend more on production.

“This internal cycle provides a lot of income and business,” he said, “and it provides a supply chain of food throughout the community.”

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Challenges do arise when selling their crops at the market, said JoAnn Delaney of Delaney Farms in an email. There’s a certain level of physicality that comes with selling products. Vendors have to set up and tear down displays, keep their tables stocked and run from one selling space to the next to wait on customers, she said.

All the local farmers are competing against the food at grocery stores, and this can be difficult, Delaney said, but there are more obstacles that come with the territory.

“Though it’s fun to watch a large number of people at one location looking to purchase food,” she said, “the competition from out-of-state produce that’s sold by the dealers at the market is our largest challenge.”

Local food is given the time it needs to grow and mature, maximizing its juiciness, sweetness and overall flavor, Blair said. Conversely, the out-of-season produce or the produce that can’t grow in Syracuse is picked early so it can ripen and be flavorful by the time it reaches the consumer, he said.

Maureen Doyle from Doyle Farms said in an email that the weather can interrupt not only harvesting, but any other part of the growing process. Weather is one of the biggest challenges with making the farmers market profitable and worthwhile, she said. Though the weather conditions may not always be suitable for crop growth, she said, consumers will always be looking for more produce.

“Whether it’s raining or not, the berries continue to grow and ripen, and if I don’t have customers to buy them, they will go to waste,” Blair said. He adds the waste can also be accounted in the labor, the containers used and cost in gas, along with the loss in wages for farmers that pay the rental fee, taxes and insurance.

It’s extremely important for consumers to seek out locally grown products, Doyle said. Consumers benefit from spending money in the local community by getting fresher products, she said, and injecting the economy with the resources it needs to prosper.

Sometimes, restaurants want to put together a unique dish and farmers agree to grow a certain crop, Blair said. In return, restaurants agree to use the crop only for that specific dish.

The vendors build relationships with one another because they all have the same interests and the commitment to farming, Blair said and added that it’s a great experience to be around people who have gone through the same problems and triumphs.

For Delaney, she knows people like to know where their food is coming from.

“When buying produce from a farmer, they can ask questions about how it was grown,” Delaney said. “People also enjoy the personal relationship that gets formed with farmers.”

Published on May 15, 2019 at 12:31 am

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