BYU NewsNet - Recession hits Provo’s Farmers Market

As the nation continues to feel the ripple effects of last year’s economic meltdown, consequences can be felt in the unlikeliest of places — like a Farmers Market in Provo.

The market, which runs every Saturday through October, is expecting continued growth, yet many booths that offer lavish services are not doing as well as they did last year.

Janis Baird, the owner of a spinal tap massage company, said both her booth at the market as well as her business has been affected negatively this year.

“People view massages as a luxury and people aren’t willing to spend their extra money on luxury items,” she said.

Booths that offer cheaper alternatives to retail products, such as homemade crafts and fresh produce, are actually tripling the business they’ve done in the past, said Raquel Smith Callis, executive director of Provo’s Farmers Market.

“Most of our visitors have a ‘buy local’ ethic and prefer buying handmade goods and produce from their neighbors,” Callis said.

Despite that observed trend, booth owners are still worried about how the economy will affect their sales.

Lori Stubbs has sold fresh vegetables for six of the seven years the market has been running and this is the first year she said she is concerned.

“This year’s going to be a testing year,” she said. “More people are looking for the best produce and products they can get for their money so hopefully my booth won’t be hurting too bad.”

People should view shopping at the Farmers Market as money in their pocket, Callis said.

“Many of our farmers sell organic produce for less than the price of conventional produce at the grocery store,” she said. “Our farmers also tend to be experts in how to prepare and preserve the food they’re selling and spend a lot of time explaining canning techniques, etc.”

Farmers also spend time teaching home gardeners how to cultivate their own gardens and offer seeds that are cheaper than those sold at the nursery, she said.

“We have growers selling strawberry starts for 25 cents where they would cost $4-5 at the nursery,” Callis said.

While many are excited by what the market has to offer this year, some consumers are disappointed by the products they found.

“I’m upset that there aren’t many fresh vegetables at the Farmers Market,” said Abby Blaisdell, a senior from Hillsboro, Ore., who said she wanted to find some good deals on produce at the market. “I was expecting the market to have vegetables that were better quality and fresher [than a grocery store’s], but I didn’t find any.”

The market runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Pioneer Park, 500 W. 100 South, Provo.