Little Italy won’t look the same this summer to visitors seeking fresh food and local produce after cancellation of the two-year-old Little Italy Farmers’ Market by the Preston Street BIA.
“We were not satisfied with the product last year,” says Lori Mellor, executive director of the Preston Street BIA. “We had a real challenge getting enough farmers to provide a decent market.”
The BIA spent a lot of money and effort promoting the market, she says, only for farmers to not make an appearance. They might have been attracted to another market or could not make the commute. “Truthfully, it became an embarrassment.”
Competition from two other Saturday markets was “the final nail in the coffin,” she says.
Mellor says reaction from vendors to the closure has been very negative.
“A lot of vendors count on a market,” says poultry farmer Cora Beking, “and when it closes, they have to look for another market to sell their products.” Beking and her family usually participate in eight farmers markets every season, but other farmers may only be part of one or two.
The customers that visit these markets love to talk to the producer of the food they eat. Businesses carry on because of farmers markets, says Beking. Patrons look out for the product at local grocers after the markets close.
“It was really great to be part of it last year,” says Beking. “We were not a big market but we had everything a person could want when they come to a market.”
Last year, Beking served scrambled eggs in the mornings. Visitors would not only come to her station to get a hearty farmers’ breakfast. They would visit other farmers’ venues and pile on brown beans, sausages, and other morning treats. “Some people just came for the breakfast,” says Beking. They would tend to average 30 breakfasts in just a few hours.
Beking planned to set up shop at the 2012 farmers’ market with her sister serving up more hearty fare. Still, she says she is excited about one coming up in Manotick run by a group of farmers. There won’t be another farmers’ breakfast, she says, but she will still be selling eggs fresh from the farm.
Another farmers’ market will be held on the corner of Preston and Louisa streets, says Mellor, but it will not be run by the BIA.
One of the original market’s goals was to create more traffic on Preston Street, says Mellor, but because the market could not accomplish this, the BIA is opening a mercato. The weekly market will see vendors selling everything from artwork to clothing. It will start on June 16, as part of Italian Week, for a six-week trial run.