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  • From: "Kevin Ancell" <kancell AT goodearthgardens.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Friends of The Farmers' Market
  • Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 08:46:14 -0600


Friends of The Farmers' Market Goes Its Own Way

By WENDY BROWN | The New Mexican 08/18/2002

Members of the Santa Fe Farmers' Market and the Friends of the Farmers'
Market say they will continue to be friends, but they are no longer
officially associated with one another.

Friends of the Farmers' Market has changed its name to Farm to Table, and
now has an expanded focus on regional agriculture.

"We've broadened the scope of our work and have a new name, but we'll still
work with the Farmers' Market," said Pam Roy, the organization's development
director.

Denise Kos, operations manager for the Farmers' Market, said the split,
which occurred over the last month, was mutual.

The Farmers' Market has grown to the point where members are able to take
over the educational, advertising and other responsibilities members of the
Friends of the Farmers' Market used to take care of, Kos said.

Friends of the Farmers' Market started in 1996 to help the Farmers' Market
set up organizational programs and find technical assistance. Since then,
Friends of the Farmers' Market started Santa Fe's south-side farmers'
market, designed the market's advertising and organized programs such as the
annual Farm Tour.

Roy said the Friends of the Farmers' Market had also grown over the years,
and members were ready to start helping farmers' markets on a regional
basis. Small-scale agriculture is on the rise across the country, she said,
and Farm to Table will help promote it in the Santa Fe and Southwest area.

"We want people to know where food comes from and why they should buy
locally," Roy said. "Buying local produce enhances the local economy, and
people need to recognize that they are helping the local economy when they
ask for local produce."

Steve Whitman, chairman of the Farm to Table board and an
economic-development planner for the city, pointed out that buying local
produce helps Santa Fe's economy because it also helps the rural economy.
"If the rural economy isn't healthy," he said, "it doesn't help us."

Whitman said Santa Fe residents are "a little spoiled" by the Santa Fe
Farmers' Market - it's nationally recognized as one of the top five in the
country.

Whitman said Farm to Table will help farmers' markets outside Santa Fe and
Albuquerque become more organized and sell more produce. "It's really hard
to do by yourself," he said.

Roy said Farm to Table will continue to work with the Santa Fe Farmers'
Market largely through educational programs. The organization has nine
programs planned for this fall, she said.

Don Bustos, president of the Santa Fe Farmers' Market, said he's thankful
for the help Friends of the Farmers' Market has offered over the years.
"We've grown up from a very grassroots organization," he said.

Bustos said the Farmers' Market is planning on a building in the Santa Fe
rail yard that will allow the market to operate year round. He expects
construction to start in the fall of 2003 or 2004.







  • Friends of The Farmers' Market, Kevin Ancell, 08/18/2002

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