By Kat Szmit
The grass is getting greener and the birds have returned. Spring has finally arrived in Maine, and that means the Sanford Farmers’ Market is also back. This Saturday, May 2, beginning at 8 am, the market will celebrate the start of its 16th season.
This year there will be between 20 and 25 vendors, with 11 from Sanford. Roughly 75 percent of last year’s vendors were women owned, according to Market Manager Mary Beth Stocking, who said she’s excited about this year’s new offerings.
“We have a bunch of new vendors,” Stocking said. “A hot sauce maker, a new vegetable grower, a couple of different perennial growers, so there will be even more plants, and two people selling rabbit meat this year, which is exciting.”
It’s exciting, Stocking said, because rabbit is something special. “It has the highest protein of any meat,” she said, adding that rabbit is also one of the most sustainable meats because the animals don’t require much space and don’t come with the same environmental impacts as other meats.
But rabbit isn’t the only item on the menu at the Farmers’ Market. In the early weeks, while spring figures itself out and gives way to summer, look for asparagus and vibrant salad greens, as well as a wide selection of jams, pickles, fancy French macarons, even vegetable starts.
“Spring is an exciting time,” Stocking said. “We don’t have tomatoes and cucumbers in May, but you’d be surprised at how much stuff is there already.”
She said the camaraderie among the farmers, producers and vendors makes for a welcoming atmosphere.
“It’s a really supportive environment,” she said. “It’s a bustling community of friends who get together every Saturday to celebrate local food.”
But the Sanford Farmers’ Market doesn’t just sell local food. They have many programs aimed at getting local food to the people who need it most.
“We reach out to a lot of marginalized groups, underserved members of our community, to ensure they have food,” Stocking added. “We accept EBT and we give them a bonus buck to spend on fruits and vegetables. It’s a way to stretch food stamp dollars.”
There is also a Senior Farm Share program in which anyone over the age of 65 can sign up for a share. They then get $50 worth of produce from the market. “It’s just an awesome program for seniors,” Stocking said.
Veterans are taken care of, as well, with Vouchers for Veterans. “As a thank you we give them $20 in vouchers to use at the market,” Stocking said, adding that the market sees roughly 100-150 seniors sign up every season, and they had 300 veterans on a Saturday last September.
“My favorite is a kids’ program,” said Stocking. “I would say it’s the most successful in reaching its goal. Any kid 8th grade and under gets a $2 coupon to use at the market.”
Stocking said she’s watched children carefully peruse the offerings of the different vendors, many choosing something they haven’t had before.
“They’re learning about what things cost, trying new things, and they take ownership of that new vegetable,” she said. Parents often return with news of their child eating and enjoying their new find. “The Farmers’ Market is a great resource for the community.”
The Sanford Farmers’ Market is open in Central Park, across from City Hall, on Saturdays from 8 am to noon through October, with a bonus day the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The market is pet friendly as long as pets are on a leash. For more information, visit sanfordfarmersmarket.org
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