KNOW YOUR FARMER
Agriculture is a fundamental activity in the identity of Arkansas, especially in White County. Searcy takes buying locally grown goods to a new level with its certified locally grown farmers market. This market not only gives the community a chance to come together and enjoy the crops and goods that have helped develop the town and state into what they are today, but the market also allows the sellers to get their names out there. That’s why we sat down with a few of the vendors at the Searcy Farmers Market to see what they had to say.
KAYTLIN ROBINSON OWNER OF JOYFUL MACARONS
Q: What products do you offer at the farmers market? A: Macarons Q: How long have you been participating in the farmers market? A: I have been participating for four months; just this year is the first year. I started my business in October of 2016. We’re home-based right now. Q: Why do you feel the farmers market is good for the community? A: To support small businesses instead of going to the big-box stores. If you support a small business and buy from them, you’re not only getting the product, but you’re also supporting a family that maybe wants to send their kids to school or pay their own bills. You’re not paying a big guy who’s sitting in a chair in the CEO’s seat just making a paycheck. Q: What are the benefits of buying fresh macarons from a farmers market? A: They’re fresh; they’re not frozen. There’s not a macaron that goes out of my booth that I don’t touch. Each one is made with a little bit of joy, and I pay special attention to it. Any product
that comes from me is going to be topnotch and the best flavor that you can get. It’s not a mass production.
Q: Why do you like having a farmers market specifically in Searcy?
A: I grew up in White County, and our roots are in Searcy, and it’s just a great place to live and a great place to be, and I hope whenever we have kids one day that it’ll continue to be that. To have something in our community that is so personal and fun and gives a safe place for people to bring their families and also walk away with a special treat — I just think there’s something special about a hometown farmers market that you can’t get whenever you go into big cities.
BRANDON GORDON OWNER OF FIVE ACRE FARMS (CO-OWNER WITH HIS WIFE, CAT)
Q: What products do you offer at the farmers market? A: Produce and flowers
Q: How long have you been participating in the farmers market? A: Since 2010 Q: Why do you choose to participate? A: I’ve gotten to know all my customers really well. Everyone seems very appreciative of what we bring. It’s turned into a really good market here in the past couple of years. We had a building period there for several years since 2010, but it’s definitely turned into a thriving market. Q: What are the benefits of buying fresh produce and flowers from a farmers market? A: From a practical standpoint, they’re going to last a lot longer. It’s not being shipped across the country. Take our lettuce and lettuce mix, for example. Most people say they’ll last for two weeks easily, and you just can’t get that from a grocery store. And also just knowing your farmer, a lot of people are more concerned with where their food comes from and how it’s grown, so you’re able to ask that person behind the table those questions as opposed to someone who’s just buying and reselling that you don’t know where [the food] comes from. To some people, that’s fine — they don’t need to know where it came from — but there’s an ever-increasing population that does care about that. Q: What are the benefits of buying from a locally grown market? A: Just pretty much the same things, basically the same points. Being able to talk to your farmer and ask how it was grown, and you’re supporting someone in your community. Like on my farm, for example, I employ several people during the summertime, so that’s creating jobs, and I think the more the market goes on, the more people are going to be hiring people, so it just works exponentially. I try to buy as much of my inputs like fertilizers and things locally so it amplifies the amount for every dollar spent.
Q: Why do you like having a farmers market specifically in Searcy? A: Like I mentioned before, the community seems so appreciative that we’re there. It’s a very giving, loving community, and they really support us for what we do, and I’ve been very thankful for that over the years.
KAYLA FORMEL-HARRIS DAUGHTER OF OWNERS OF THE CANNON F RANCH
Q: What products do you offer at the farmers market? A: We are the beef producers of the market. I don’t really think anybody else has had anything like what we’ve had out there. We are the beef suppliers. Every Saturday, we have two freezers that you can shop from.
Q: What different types of meat do you offer? A: My dad, Shaun Formel, is kind of known in this area for Piedmontese. It’s an Italian breed of beef, and like nobody else has that around here, so he’s kind of known for that. He does also have Angus out there, and of course, that’s a popular one. We have people from really all over who will contact him about the Piedmontese and people weekly at the market who have never heard of it. The main thing about it that makes it different is it’s a healthier-option beef. You don’t have to sacrifice the taste and everything when sitting down and having a burger or a steak. There have been people who have gone to their doctor for cholesterol and all this who have been told, “Stop the red meat; it’s not good for you,” but they can actually have this. It actually has less fat than chicken and fish. It’s what it’s kind of known for and why my dad’s becoming kind of popular for it because it’s rare around here.
Q: Why do you feel the farmers market is good for the community? A: We live in an area that doesn’t have Whole Foods. We have to drive an hour, two hours to even get something like that, and to me, it’s very sad. That’s just what our food supply and all that has come to, and that just gives my family that avenue to support local. I just think the biggest thing my dad would say is to be an advocate for the farmers.