We are nearly there: only 2 Saturdays remain until we open on May 6. Lots has been happening as we prepare for this season, and we are happy to report that purveyors of all the major food groups have been put in place to meet your weekly needs.
Our aim is to connect consumers with farmers, fishers, ranchers and other producers. By cutting out the middleman, we not only save energy and costs, but provide a level of trust and accountability that just can’t exist at a grocery store.
We have taken the opportunity to revamp our standards for existing and new vendors. All vendors now pledge to bring only products that they have grown or produced themselves; all vendors must list the source of their ingredients and the methods used to produce them. We will make farm and facility visits to verify their claims, and to assure our customers that they can trust that what they purchase at our market is exactly as advertised.
Returning vendors who will be at the market on May 6th:
Blue Skys Farm: Produce, plants, herbs, flowers and teas. Chemical-free. Cranston, RI Farmer: Christina Dedora
Pak Express: Produce, plants, eggs, nime chow. Chemical-free. Cranston, RI. Farmer: Chang Xiong
gC Farms: Produce, eggs, plants. Chemical-free. Coventry, RI.
Farmers: Chris Mezak and Gwendolyn Stokes
The Local Catch: Fresh-caught and smoked seafood, locally harvested. Narragansett, RI. Owners: Rich and Ann Cook.
Baffoni’s Poultry: Fresh chicken and sausage. Cage-free, entirely vegetarian diet, free of hormones, additives and meat by-products. Johnston, RI Farmer: Don Baffoni
Wedgewood Flowers: Produce, plants, eggs. Chemical-free. Saunderstown, RI. Farmers: Kathy and Fred Weber.
Weatherlow Farms: Beef, pork, lamb, goat: free range and hormone and antibiotic free. Cut flowers. Westport, MA. Farmer: Ryan Wagner.
Returning Vendor: Barden Family Orchard join us later in the season. It seems as though the peach crop has survived the late frost and we will see them in late July or early August. Barden has added a blueberry patch to their holdings, and we hope to see with those as well as their raspberries, corn, tomatoes, squash and apples and cider as the season goes on. Scituate, RI. Farmers: Gil and Sandie Barden.
New Vendor: Bolt Coffee Company, with Knead Doughnuts:
Small producers, stop by and ask about their sources and ingredients!
The Market Table, sponsored by the market (proceeds support market programs), offers products from local producers that our other vendors do not carry: Nuts, trail mixes and nut butter from the Virginia & Spanish Peanut Company; cheese and butter from Rhody Fresh; honey from Fruit Hill Apiaries; jams from Terry’s Tasty Treasures.
This season, we are adding Market Table II, with savory and sweet baked goods from Pawtuxet General. We are really excited to be bringing artisan breads from Olga’s Cup and Saucer as well!
We hope that you are as happy as we are about the new additions, and the renewed emphasis on the connection between producer and consumer. Your support and promotion of the market as a special part of our community are essential to its continued success.
See you at the market.
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