THE CROCUSES are just opening and a few forsythia are in bloom. Spring is definitely on the way.
Another sure sign was Sunday’s annual meeting of the Emporia Farmers’ Market. Organizers, vendors and customers got together for a potluck meal and to make plans for the coming season, which will begin May 2.
Tracey Graham, market director, looked back on the 2008 season with some satisfaction — sales were 25 percent higher than any of the market’s previous seasons. That was with only a slight increase in the number of vendors.
Some changes are in store for the new season. The Senior Nutrition Program, which provided vouchers for older customers at the market, has ended in Kansas. But this year, the market will begin accepting food stamps and WIC vouchers. It will also begin accepting debit cards. The goal, as always, is to make it easier for people to shop for fresh local produce, baked goods and other products.
There also may be an increase in the availability of local produce as the new community garden at the Flint Hills Technical College begins its first season.
This could be the last year for the seasonal market. Graham said Emporia could shift to a year-round market as growers begin using high-tunnel greenhouses to extend the growing season.
Even with its limited hours, the Emporia Farmers’ Market keeps going from strength to strength. The food produced by local growers is good and nutritious and the baked goods, jellies and jams bring a touch of grandma’s kitchen to Emporia’s households.
We would like to suggest one other thing that might make the market more useful and accessible. LCAT could look into setting up some special runs on Saturday mornings to take its customers to the market and back.
After all, the market is not just a place to buy groceries. It is a weekly fair at which socializing is as important as shopping. The market is at its best when the crowd among the stalls includes people of all ages from all of the city’s neighborhoods.
When that happens, the market brings those neighborhoods together.