BY LOTTE STREISINGER
Home of Its Own?
A building for Farmers’ Market needs to
accommodate the seasons.
T
he Lane County Farmers’ Market is burgeoning.
It is the height of the season for local pro-
duce, and once again the idea has come up
that the Farmers’ Market should have its own per-
manent building [see cover story last week].
A Farmers’ Market building has been tried once
before in Eugene. In the early part of the 20th cen-
tury there was a market just where the present one is
located. It was run by the local Grange. Around 1930 the
growers built a building at Broadway and Charnelton. They
found however that they could not sustain this building every day all year. They
had to take in commercial businesses and by the late ’50s they failed. The building
still stands and now houses medical supplies. This information comes from a book
Market Days by Stan Bettis, published in 1969.
For some years there was no Farmer’s Market in Eugene; if you wanted local
strawberries, for instance, you had to drive out to the farm to get them. Then, in
1970 the Saturday Market began and the Produce Market was its adjunct.
Rebuilding a customer base for local produce was very slow work, and the
Farmers’ Market still benefits from its proximity to the Saturday Market. Here is a
quote from Beth Little, the Saturday Market manager, in a recent (8/7) Saturday
Market newsletter:
“Having the Farmers’ Market as a neighbor is a gift to us. Their dedication to
the quality of produce mixed with the artistry they show in the stacks of carrots,
onions, corn and beets contributes so very deeply to the ideals we hold in keeping
money in the community.”
One of the pleasures of the produce market is its seasonality. This week it is
melons and peaches but soon it will be apples and pears and grapes. We do not
have a year-round growing season here in Oregon. The Farmers’ Market starts
small in spring. It expands through the harvest season, when there is also a
Tuesday and now a Thursday market. In fall it shrinks down again — the first frost
kills the tomatoes — and by the end of October it is gone for the winter.
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T
hose who want to see a Farmers’ Market building sometimes cite the
Seattle Pike Place Market. Eugene is not Seattle, however, and a friend
who lives there tells me that it is now mostly for tourists and sells pre-
dominantly bunched flowers.
A better model is the Portland Farmers’ Market on Portland’s park blocks. Its
board has decided that the market is big enough. They accept no more new ven-
dors unless they have something special to offer. (If there are 20 vendors selling
blueberries, why have 10 more? The Eugene Saturday Market also has a waiting
list.) In Portland, too, there is a weekday market, an evening market and satellites
in the outlying districts.
It has been suggested that Lane County’s “butterfly” parking lot might be re-
constructed to house a new arts organization (DIVA, Downtown Initiative for the
Visual Arts) and also an enlarged space for the Farmers’ Market. This is an inter-
esting idea; it would keep the Farmers’ Market downtown, where customers expect
to find it and still in the vicinity of the Saturday Market.
Any structures for the Farmers’ Market would need to be carefully designed to
accommodate its seasonality — perhaps with awnings, and maybe some sculptures
and benches to give the place a less abandoned look off-season.
Lotte Streisinger is the founder of Saturday Market and Farmers’ Market, and she provided a lot of the background
information for last week’s cover story on Farmers’ Market.
Come Celebrate
Eugene’s Newest Eatery
• Guest Appearance by Extremo the Clown
•Kids Art Projects by Sarah of Art Soup
• Free Ice Cream & Balloons for Kids
• Coupons and Give Aways
• DJ at 8:00pm (no cover)
760 Blair Blvd
at 8th, Blair & Monroe (Across from Sweetlife)
Open Mon-Sat 11 ’til 10 pm; Sun 11-9 pm
AUGUST 26, 2004 7