LITTLE ROCK — South Main Street residents will have a place by early May to buy locally grown vegetables and fruits, homemade jams and, eventually, Arkansas-produced meats, cheeses and other products.
The Bernice Garden at South Main and Daisy Gatson Bates Drive will host a Sunday farmers market starting May 6 and running through mid-October that will provide selling space for produce and goods grown or made within 150 miles of Little Rock. The addition to the Certified Arkansas Farmers Market network fits into the larger business theme developing along the section of South Main Street, which features several businesses focused on local goods and sustainable business practices.
“We want this to add to the neighborhood as a whole, to be part of a neighborhood that is lively and active all the time,” said Liz Sanders, event coordinator for Bernice Garden.
Sanders, who also farms a quarter-acre plot with her boyfriend, said the garden’s owner and staff focus on scheduling programs and events that will bring the community together and allow neighbors to interact and meet. She said the farmers market will focus on getting nutritious foods to the neighborhood.
Sanders said she and the other market organizers are working to finish the paperwork so vendors can accept vouchers from the federal Women, Infants and Children and the Electronic Benefit Transfer programs.
“We understand the neighborhood and we don’t want this to be about fancy, hoity-toity, or organic necessarily,” she said. “It’s not about exclusivity, but inclusiveness. Organic is great, but we want quality food, grown by quality people, for a quality neighborhood.”
The market will join a handful of other markets across the region, including the three largest — the River Market Farmers Market, which runs Tuesdays and Saturdays and will open for the season April 24; the Argenta Farmers Market in North Little Rock, which is open Saturdays and will start up April 14; and the Hillcrest Farmers Market, run by Pulaski Heights Baptist Church on Saturdays and opening for the season May 5 with a few vendors starting April 14.
The Argenta and Hillcrest markets are limited to sellers of locally grown produce, although the definition of local in terms of proximity to Little Rock varies by market. The River Market site allows resellers who buy produce at the Little Rock Port and take it to market without having a role in the growing or harvesting.
The Bernice Garden sent out surveys to the business community, potential farmers and sellers, and residents asking what they would like to see at the market and what day would be best. Sanders said the farmers were adamant that they did not want to have another market on a Saturday because of the others that operate that day. Residents said they preferred to have the market on the weekend, and about 80 percent said Sundays would work best.
“Farmers wanted a day midweek, but people can’t always get there all the time midweek,” Sanders said. “People were excited about Sunday and the farmers said they would prefer that to Saturday when they have people at the other markets as well.”
The Sunday hours, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., were not a favorite among many of the Main Street business owners because most businesses near the garden are closed Sunday. Several businesses are considering limited openings during the market depending on whether it generates enough foot traffic.
Shelley Green, owner of The Green Corner Store, a marketplace for local, sustainable and handcrafted goods, said the store will have a grand opening April 7 of its soda fountain, which will sell locally made ice cream and handmade herbal sodas. And if things go well, the soda fountain may stay open during farmers market hours.
“We’re definitely supportive of the market,” she said. “We’ve always wanted to have a local market here for the residents. I know the residents would love to have the quality of homegrown, fresh food.”
The Green Corner Store is one of several in the corridor that sell local products or focus on sustainable business practices. Boulevard Bread Company, the Studio Main architectural firm and The Root Cafe all fit into the environmental movement along South Main Street.
The Root Cafe will celebrate its one-year anniversary around the time the farmers market opens. The cafe’s owners and chefs buy as many ingredients as possible from Arkansas farmers and growers — many of whom are being tapped to sell at the market — creating a connection from farmers to lunch customers by telling people where and how the food was grown.
“There’s a lot of new stuff going on down here and a lot of it is focused on sustainability and local foods,” said Jack Sundell, who opened the cafe with his wife, Corri, in 2011. “I think it’s a great image to work for, but I also think more than anything, the district has the potential to become a really eclectic community-oriented neighborhood. It’s a neighborhood where you find old and young, black and white and Latino. You find residents and you also have commercial traffic from the River Market and downtown districts. It just seems like it has so much potential.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 03/22/2012