Imagine this: bright, bountiful rows of produce, crafts, meats, eggs, salsas, baked goods and more; a gathering-ground that’s “the place to be” on Saturday mornings for local shoppers, tourists, day-trippers, chefs, students and seniors; unusual, traditional and locally distinctive foods—always fresh and delicious; live music, kids’ theater and on-the-spot cooking and craft demonstrations; and couples picnicking on the grass and spilling out into downtown Asheville to enjoy a Saturday on the town.

Now imagine this: for dozens of western NC farms, more access to a larger share of the buying public’s food dollar; an economic engine that redirects dollars from Asheville’s growing economy to the more in-need rural communities that surround us; and access to fresh, healthy foods for impoverished and elderly residents of the downtown area.

When the long-time plans of a dedicated group of local farmers come to fruition, these visions will become a reality in spring of 2008, when the Asheville City Market is set to open for the season.

To be located on South Charlotte Street in downtown Asheville and held on Saturday mornings from spring to fall, the market will serve as a point of sale for 50 to 100 vendors, all of whom grow, raise or make what they sell.

The planning process originated a year after Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s (ASAP) 2003–2004 customer and farmer surveys identified a strong desire for markets with more parking, more size and types of vendors, and more access for area farms. In 2005, a group of farmers began meeting to discuss the Market and search for a site; ASAP staffed the meetings and acted as the group’s public liaison to financial sponsors, local governments, the broader farming public and the general public. Work to identify a site accelerated when the City of Asheville made a strong commitment to become involved. In 2006, the city’s Downtown Commission endorsed the project, and, coming out of their 2006/2007 retreat, the Asheville City Council directed city staff to prioritize the Market as a top goal for the coming year.

Much of the time from 2005 until now has been spent reviewing more than twenty sites, eagerly pursuing promising leads, and seeing serious hopes to land at multiple downtown locations fall through due to other development plans in the near term. Finally, the City agreed to make the parking lot at the Public Works office building on South Charlotte Street available. Located at the corner of Eagle Street, in front of the attractive brick office building some have nicknamed the “Garage Mahal,” the lot has about 130 parking spaces with a row of growing maples down the center and a sloping lawn on one side.

Planners are excited about the combination of proximity to downtown with ample parking and easy access from highway exits. They hope to draw many local shoppers, but supplement this core with tourists and visitors from a hundred-mile radius.

Some ask, “Why another farmers’ market? Don’t we already have too many?” This is a good question. Asheville’s network of eight or so weekly farmers’ tailgate markets, including some with ten or fewer vendors, is unusual for a small city. The answer goes back to the customers. They are asking for more: more space, more vendors, more parking, and more of a “community experience” that entices them to stick around at market, listen to music, meet friends and spend more money.

For the farmers, food producers and artists selling at the market, the experience will differ from existing markets in some key ways. Vendors will pay a modest fee to support a paid manager and a solid promotional budget. The manager will coordinate vendor recruitment, promotion of the market, special events, volunteer efforts and more.

The fact that our population can support another market (while existing markets continue to thrive) is borne out by research into other similar-sized cities. The widely recognized “queen” of producer-only farmers markets is, surprisingly, in a small city: Madison, Wisconsin. The Dane County Farmers’ Market has 300 vendors who average $1,300 in sales each week and can draw five to ten thousand shoppers on an average Saturday. Around the country, the story is the same in metropolitan areas our size and smaller: Fayetteville, AR, has two weekly markets with ninety vendors each; in Eugene, OR, the market has three weekly meetings and 160 vendor members, and it’s held across the street from an even bigger arts market. Finally, Santa Fe, NM, with less than half the population of Asheville and a similar tourism-driven economy, supports 100 vendors at its three weekly markets.

Farmers working hard on the planning process include Amy Ager from Spring House Meats, Chris Owen of Spinning Spider Creamery, Alan Salmon of Wildwood Herbal, Frank Teneralli of Let it Grow, and several others. Most are veterans of the existing farmers’ tailgate markets and say they personally have all the market outlets they need to sell what they can produce. But they know existing markets are at capacity, and they’re working to guarantee that the farms that come behind them have a profitable place to sell, too.

The planning group will spend this fall and winter hiring and training a manager, recruiting other vendors, promoting the Market, gathering interested volunteers and pinning down the rules and regulations for vendors. Opening day will come in spring. Until then, interested volunteers, donors or shoppers can stay updated at www.ashevillecitymarket.com.

Bringing Local Food to Neighbors and Neighbors to Local Food
Recently, ASAP partnered with the Council on Aging of Buncombe County to create Project EMMA (Eat Better, Move More, Age Well). The project, supported by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, aims to increase access to local food and exercise for seniors.

In mid-July, project EMMA began a garden on the roof of the Battery Park Apartments that blossomed with late-season vegetables and herbs for residents. In addition to the garden, the project provides a variety of other ways to access local food. The Buncombe County Child Services kitchen, which prepares the meals for the Council on Aging’s seven senior meal sites around the county, incorporates local produce from Madison Farms into their meal preparation for seniors, and weekly walking trips to a Wednesday afternoon tailgate market provide an opportunity for exercise and local food in the same trip. There are also nutrition talks and cooking demonstrations on simple ways to prepare in-season produce and farm field trips that connect participants in a direct way with where their food is grown.

In the future, ASAP hopes to bring the USDA Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program to Buncombe County, providing vouchers for seniors to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at local tailgate markets, including the new Asheville City Market in 2008.

For more information on Project EMMA, contact Libby Hinsley at libby@asapconnections.org.

Peter Marks is Local Food Campaign Director at Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. For more information, visit www.asapconnections.org.

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