Farmers from Bloomington and neighboring towns travel to the corner of 7th and Morton St. where a plaza in front of City Hall is waiting to be filled by fellow farmers, craft and food vendors, musicians, and supportive patrons. The Bloomington Farmers' Market is said to be the largest farmers' market in Indiana, and after one visit (the start of many to come) I can clearly see why so many people attend and enjoy the event.
It is obvious that the farmers' market would not be possible without the numerous participants supporting the event. There are several slots of space available for farmers and vendors to rent (represented on map by large rectangles with drawings of various produce items), and multiple busking venues (ones we visited represented by barred eighth notes) dispersed throughout the plaza for use during the market season (April to November). In the prepared food section (cluster of squares on map) I was able to speak with two of the vendors: David from the "3 Days in Paris" crèpe stand, and a man from the Brown County Coffee stand. David said that he was a student at Indiana University last year but this year has decided to pursue a culinary career, one that is supported by the farmers' market. I would say he and his coworkers are doing pretty well considering they have to periodically stop taking orders for half an hour just to catch up (and the BLT crèpe I ordered was delicious). The man at the coffee stand was kind enough to provide me the flavor profiles of different coffees they had available before I chose one to buy, and informed me that the beans are locally roasted and come from a distributing company that gets them directly from the source (the examples he gave were Bali and Colombia). Another group of participants is the musicians that come to busk and enjoy the atmosphere of the farmers' market. One band I saw while there was called Busman's Holiday, comprised of two brothers with a simple, folk-type sound playing guitar and snare drum/suitcase. Our teacher's assistant, Kerry, had previously seen them perform at other venues around town which told me that they were involved in multiple factions of the community. I enjoyed their music enough to buy their album that they had for sale. Every second Saturday of the month, the farmers' market hosts a "Fair of the Arts" where local artists and crafters are invited to set up a station from which they can sell their products (cluster of triangles on map). One of the first things I noticed about the people attending the market was that there were kids of ages ranging from infant to preteen everywhere. This immediately told me that the whole activity was extremely accepting of and inviting to families; the fact that the farmers' market enforces a smoke-free atmosphere added to this. One thing that the director of the market (Marcia Veldman) mentioned during the Q&A session is one of the benefits to the farmers' market is that it allows an opportunity for the parents to introduce their children to eating fresh, healthy foods in a positive environment to hopefully culture healthy eating habits and an appreciation for fresh and nutritious produce.
Collectively, the market sustains a feeling of unity among the patrons and vendors, such that even by merely walking around and browsing the products available you gain a sense of contribution. You also can observe the vendors interacting with each other in such a way that suggests frequent conversations and long-term relations. When ordering my crèpe from David, he suggested that I also get a soda called "spuma," then hollered over to the neighboring Italian pastry stand (which was Piccoli Dolci) "Maria, I got you another spuma customer!" Not only could I sense they have been neighbors before, but this exchange increased the participatory setting of the entire market; while making his own profit, David wanted to help Maria gain more patrons as well. Another observation that increased the participatory factor of the market was I saw an older man in overalls and thick glasses with an oxygen tube under his nose step up to a man playing a song familiar to him on ukulele and sing harmony with him. The man playing the ukulele (later I found out his name was Mitch) immediately accepted this stranger's contribution to his music without any expectation of a tip. While perusing the produce section, we ran into a girl named Megan, whom Krista had met at Max's Place during our "field work," carrying some flowers she bought. She is a regular at Max's open mic night, but also told us that her brother was across the plaza selling maple syrup that he had made with their father. Megan is an example of a patron who supports the community through her family and by simply attending community events and purchasing local goods.
The whole event provides a safe and fun weekend activity that promotes social bonding within the community and supports the business of local individuals. In the words of Mitch, a man who was playing the ukulele and has attended the farmers' market since it was founded more than thirty years ago, "it's in the morning, it's clean, family-friendly and nobody's drunk." Produce vendors must meet the criteria of either being the actual farmer or be a (minimum) weekly employee of the farmer. This means that the funds used to purchase said produce is being put directly into the hands of the grower, as opposed to farmers getting paid a small percentage of the profits made by commercial grocery stores. Another direct financial benefit of the farmers' market is towards the local crafters and artists. Again, the funds used to purchase said items is going straight from the consumer to the crafter. In Megan's case, she told us that her father and her brother have mostly taken on the task of tapping trees and making/selling the syrup, but her whole family has enjoyed and still enjoys being a part of the market.
The Bloomington Farmers' Market serves as an important, irreplaceable event in the Bloomington community. By providing farmers with full profit amount, customers with direct contact to their growers, and everyone involved with a sense of belonging and carefreeness, the market incorporates a participatory atmosphere into community building and social bonding in which all are invited and encouraged to take part.
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