ANNA GAGLIANO
Copy Editor
Quite possibly the only reason that justifies getting up early on a Saturday morning is the Fredonia Farmers’ Market.
This not-for-profit market has been a year-long occurrence in Fredonia every weekend for over 10 years.
Upon walking into the market’s winter location, one is greeted by the smiling faces of a local Girl Scout troop selling cookies.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, all other vendors are set up around the edges of the room to create a streamlined path for patrons to walk through and check out the different products.
The market is committed to lifting up local farmers as well as small business owners, so a variety of merchandise can be found from artisan jewelry to freshly tapped maple syrup.
This winter is the second season that Tia Leuzzi has been selling a colorful array of homemade soaps at the market. She believes it has been instrumental in the success of her business, Cute and Crafty Soaps.
“People like to… see [the soap], to smell it… Just being able to talk to people and have them be able to see and experience the products in person and ask questions about it [has helped],” she said.
Different vendors at the market accept different forms of payment. Some have card readers and others take cash, but there is an additional option to use your cash or card to pick up some wooden market tokens with an individual $5 value.
These tokens are available to any shopper, but they come from the Farmers’ Market Federation of New York as part of New York’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps.
Any customers who receive SNAP benefits are able to trade those in for market tokens, making it easier for low income community members to have access to fresh produce and quality meat and dairy products, in addition to any other locally-sourced goods found at the market.
One business that prides itself on providing high quality products to all patrons is Roo Haven Farm, a certified organic Forestville farm selling heritage and pasture-raised poultry, pigs and goats. Owner Margaret Bruegel has participated in the market since 2010, and finds that different seasons bring different benefits.
“[We can] access a wide variety of customers, for sure. We have different customer bases in the wintertime [than] the summer, when we have a lot of tourism. In the wintertime we have a lot of students and local people who come and in the summertime we have a lot of summer people who come to the area. So, it’s nice to have a different group of people year round.”
The Fredonia Farmers’ market is currently operating out of their winter location at the Masonic Lodge in Fredonia every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Come mid-May, though, it will be back on Church St. with an opening time of 9 a.m.
In unprecedented times like these, it’s a comfort to know that the Fredonia community is still coming together once a week to uplift and support small farms and businesses in a way that is accessible to people of any economic standing.
To learn more about the Fredonia Farmers’ Market’s mission and their vendors, you can visit their website here.