Organic foods, fresh ingredients, homemade soaps and handcrafted jewelry appeared at the Community Farmers Market’s “Night Y’all” event on Thursday, Sept. 25. The event featured more than 50 local vendors, according to their website.
Chestnut Cove founder Tiffany Gillespie from Glasgow said she and her family always try to buy organic foods. In particular, she said that they try to avoid items on the Dirty Dozen List or items that are widely associated with genetically modified organisms.
“Food being grown locally or organically is very important to us,” Gillespie said. “We garden and we grow a lot of our own food.”
Noelle Legrand, founder of Bluegrass Roots and Herbs, joined the Community Farmers Market for its “Night Y’all” event. Legrand said all the food she uses in her business is grown with organic practices, including what she grows herself.
Legrand said she enjoys talking with her customers about her product and believes they value it as well.
“It’s incredibly important to be able to meet the people who grow my food,” Legrand said. “That human connection is something that a lot of people desire.”
Additionally, Bill Greer said he founded Top Crops alongside his wife, Carol Greer. Top Crops is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that focuses on providing career opportunities to individuals with special needs. Greer said they have operated a booth at the market every Saturday for the past 12 years.
Greer said he believes accessibility is more important than health when it comes to food.
“Grow good food and make it accessible; that’s what matters most to me,” Greer said. “Everybody should have access to good food; that’s more important than a few people getting great food.”
On Top Crops farm, Greer said individuals with special needs get to further their education by growing all of Top Crops produce, including potatoes, squash, tomatoes and peppers. Greer said the Community Farmers Market helps teach the social skills that the farming process is unable to.
“They learn to garden out there, but here they learn how to sell,” Greer said. “We have a great time doing it.”
Jeff Trammel from Bowling Green attended the “Night Y’all” event with his business, JT Baked Goods. He said he enjoys opening his booth in farmers’ markets because it allows him to show his talents and provide for his customers.
“I put a little bit of heart and soul into all of my baked goods,” Trammel said. “It’s kind of my way of giving back.”
Freshman agriculture major Olivia Marksberry from Bowling Green attended the farmers market’s “Night Y’all” event. She said she was happy to connect with people who grow and create the products she buys.
“Being able to know where your food comes from is kind of cool,” Marksberry said. “There is so much connection that can be found between the farmer and the consumer that you can’t experience on a larger scale.”
Bowling Green native Jen Deridder said she regularly attends farmers’ markets. She also said that there is value in connecting with local farmers.
“Buying from your own community, supporting the local people, is pretty important,” Deridder said. “There are all sorts of relationships to be unpacked, customer to vendor, but vendor to vendor as well.”
Trammel said that there are many different relationships to be explored within farmers market communities.
“It feels like friendship and it feels like family,” Trammel said.
Greer also said that the farmers’ markets are enlightening to the diverse communities that people don’t always realize they’re a part of.
“People come in from all walks of life,” Greer said. ”You come here and you can connect with so many cool people; the market is just amazing.”
