The local Geneseo Farmers Market, traditionally held on Main Street, will be relocating to the MacVittie College Union beginning this week.
According to the Department of Student Life, the market will be available in the Union lobby from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. every Thursday beginning on Oct. 24 and will remain until Dec. 5.
Among the typical vendors are Hinz-Sight Goat Dairy, Fire Creek Farms, Dave’s Honey, Randall’s Plants and Sweet Art’s Bakery.
The Geneseo Farmers Market was established in 2011 by a group of passionate town residents with the help of the Village of Geneseo, the Town of Geneseo, the Association for the Preservation of Geneseo and the Genesee Valley Conservancy. The market has proved to be successful each year since and continues to fulfill its mission to provide healthy, locally grown food to the Geneseo community.
“We’ve never done this before,” Charles Matthews, senior director of Student Life said. “We’re really rolling the dice, and we’re going to see what happens.”
According to Matthews, the farmers market contacted the college looking for a place to situate as the weather gets colder.
“As the weather becomes more challenging to be outdoors, the farmers market was looking for a place that they could come and be able to do what farmers markets do,” Matthews said. “I think it made a lot of sense for them to come on campus in the Union, as it’s the community center of campus and the town of Geneseo as well.”
Though seemingly challenging, according to Matthews, the student groups who routinely occupy the Union lobby on Thursday nights will coexist with the market.
“There are student organizations tabling down there right now, so it took me a while to look through the Union’s schedule for the rest of the semester and try to make it work,” Matthews said. “As long as everyone’s flexible and the vendors know they’ll have to flex.”
Due to limited space in the Union, the market plans to be a smaller version of the typical Main Street setup while still containing multiple vendors.
“We’re probably going to have between six and eight different representatives there, offering all different kinds of things,” Matthews said.
One particular vendor that will join the farmers market in the Union in the coming weeks is Sweet Arts Bakery. Located on Main Street, Sweet Arts offers a variety of baked goods as well as cafe and beverages like coffee and tea.
“We’re very excited to be able to bring our products directly to the students,” Ruth Ann Lewis, owner of Sweet Arts Bakery said in an email statement to The Lamron. “We want to find out what they’d like to purchase, one thing we know is we will be bringing cinnamon rolls every week!”
Matthews said he is hopeful that the farmers market will be successful at the college and thinks it can continue to situate in the Union during cold weather in the following years.
“I’ve gotten a lot of good responses from various people saying they’re really excited about it, so hopefully it’ll continue if it has the support,” Matthews said. “If people come by and buy stuff then more vendors will be a part of it, I think it’s a neat opportunity.”
English adolescent education major junior Cameron Luquer said she is an active farmers market shopper.
“I live on Main Street and really enjoy the farmers market,” Luquer said. “Because I live off-campus and buy my own groceries, it’s really nice to have the option of buying local produce. There are plenty of vendors each with their own unique offerings.”
Luquer also said that she is glad that the cold weather won’t prevent her from buying fresh groceries.
“I was beginning to get disappointed with each passing Thursday that the market was ending,” Luquer said. “I figured just because it was getting colder, it obviously wouldn’t be able to continue through the winter. I’m glad that they decided to reach out to the college to move the market into the Union because I think this will allow other people to go since it’s closer to campus.”