A photo from past year’s Grow Food Northampton Winter Market inside the Senior Center.
Photo credit: Grow Food Northampton
NORTHAMPTON — The Grow Food Northampton Winter Farmer’s Market returned on Nov. 22 at the Senior Center for another winter season of local market offerings.
The Winter Market Season runs every other Saturday until March 28. Open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the dates for the remainder of the winter market are Dec. 6 and 20, Jan. 3, 17 and 31, Feb. 14 and 28 and March 14 and 28.
The market takes the baton from the summer market without sacrificing much of what makes its offerings worthwhile for local residents.
“We have a great lineup of vendors already, some returning and some new ones, so it’s definitely going to be a great season,” Farmers Market Manager Helen Kahn told Reminder Publishing.
Kahn said that in total, 29 farm and food vendors have joined the Winter Market at the Senior Center during the season. About 14 artisan vendors will also feature at the market, but mostly for the markets leading up to the holidays.
While the Winter Market brings “a different vibe” compared to the summer market, Kahn said it is impressive to see how many vendors can still fit inside the Senior Center. She said live music will accompany market-goers while they look for fresh produce and other items from returning and new sellers.
Kahn credited many local farmers for instituting farming practices that allow for certain produce to grow year-round. Through high tunnel farming and expanded greenhouse use, many farmers are selling produce out of peak season months thanks to the tools available for more sustainable growing.
One example of this Kahn mentioned was Dave’s Natural Garden, a Granby-based farm that uses high tunnel farming so they can offer broccolini through January.
“It is incredible to me how many vegetables that we associate with the summer and the fall, some of our vendors are able to maintain year-round,” added Kahn.
Kahn said market-goers can expect the return of Winter Moon Roots — a local Western Mass. farm that produces fresh roots and vegetables, as well as Davenport Maple Farm and Red Barn Honey Company. Crowd favorite Underline Farm will also return with its organic meat and eggs, along with Chesterfield-based Crabapple Farm.
The December markets will also feature new vendors like Beckett-based Lilo Sourdough Creations, which offers a variety of sweet and savory sourdough breads and pastries. Park Hill Orchard will also join the market through December.
Attendees will experience new food vendors in January, including Twisted, a plant-based baked goods/prepared foods vendor, and Zora’s, an authentic Venezuelan cuisine vendor that also offers catering.
“It’s great that we’re able to support farmers and support people who want to eat locally year-round between the Tuesday market and the winter market,” added Kahn.
The market will continue to offer its SNAP Match program, where shoppers enrolled in SNAP can have $10 of their benefits doubled each week through a match with the market.
As a response to the recent SNAP crisis stemming from the federal government, Grow Food Northampton put together a small fundraising effort where they offered a $20 SNAP match in the month of November. Kahn added it was important for Grow Food Northampton to help those impacted by the lack of funding for SNAP benefits. The final market with the $20 match offering was Nov. 22.
Kahn said the market always serves as a great reminder of the foundation of farmers and local support the region has. She said it also satiates people’s desire for locally-sourced and fresh food.
“We are so fortunate in Western Mass. to have so many small-scale farms that are producing amazing food and also so many people who value that, and it’s great that we’re not the only game in town,” said Kahn. “We run a very popular Tuesday market and winter market, but almost all of the neighboring towns have markets as well. Easthampton, Greenfeld, Holyoke [and] Springfield, are also running markets year-round. It’s so great that we still have community that will support that, that understand the value of supporting local, even if it might cost a little bit more, because they know that that money is going directly to the people growing and preparing the food and its going straight back to our economy. And then it keeps turning round and round and supporting all of us in this area.”
For more information on the return of the Grow Food Northampton Winter Market, visit growfoodnorthampton.org/farmers-markets/.
