New Farmers Market Kicks Off On Detroit
Sinagra Park is getting a little bit greener starting in June, thanks to a dedicated team of local urban farmers and farm enthusiasts. The little green space on Detroit Avenue will become home to a new farmers market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The idea began when the city approached another regional market about selling in Lakewood. When that market declined, the mission fell on a group of volunteers.
“Our mission statement,” says Whitney Gersak, market manager, “is: ‘To provide a local food venue for growers and cottage industries in Lakewood and encourage entrepreneurship while unifying the community through sustainable endeavors.’ [It] really sums up what we are doing. We are trying to get urban growers in the city of Lakewood, as well as residents who do cottage products to vend. It’s as local as local gets. We really wanted to provide a venue for new vendors who were just starting out in the business, and give them a chance to have a starting point, as well as increase the downtown foot traffic on Detroit.”
Two vendors who will be participating in the market are Annabel Khouri and Eric Stoffer. The married couple, both employed in full-time jobs, and Lakewood residents since 2007, are co-owners of Baybranch Farm, a small but hearty plot on Lark Avenue. On a tour of the land, Stoffer confesses that a lot of people on the street have expressed enthusiasm for what they’re doing. Stoffer and Khouri are entrepreneurial farmers--they purchased the vacant lot on Lark in 2009 with the intent of farming it for profit. “For the market this year, we’re primarily focused on greens and root crops, so, lettuce, arugula, and carrots, beets, radishes, potatoes, onions and spinach,” Khouri notes.
Cindy Bischof-Steinbrick, founder of Basil and Beyond, is another vendor. She’ll be providing all-natural herbs at the market, including several varieties of basil, oregano, chives, thyme, rosemary, mint, parsley, tarragon, and sage. “All of [the] herbs are grown in Lakewood…without synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers,” she says. Her company, and the farmers market, she says, "will enhance Lakewood in several ways, first by providing another opportunity for Lakewood and surrounding residents to obtain fresh, locally-produced food, with the added bonus of being at a convenient time for those who work during the week. Secondly, the market will be [another] opportunity to draw customers to the downtown area, where in addition to purchasing great products at the market, they can eat at a wide selection of restaurants, visit an award-winning library and shop at unique, independently-owned shops, all within walking distance.”
“We have the support of local businesses, through the act of sponsorship, donation and verbal support. Our hope is the farmers market will bring more foot traffic to the area on Saturdays, and that the people shopping [there] will also patronize the local businesses around the area,” says Gersak. “All of our volunteers support not only local food, but local businesses as well. It’s our hope that this market not only benefits the vendors and buyers, but all the local shops as well."