Lee Cruz, Miller, Mateo Cruz.
Mateo Cruz hadn’t even started his second birthday party at the Cityseed Fair Haven Farmers Market, when thunder rumbled in the distance.
The storm cut short the inaugural day of the neighborhood’s farmers market last Thursday, but not before almost 100 people from near and far walked along the Quinnipiac River to ogle and buy the colorful produce.
Community activist Lee Cruz and his wife Sarah Miller hosted Mateo’s birthday party there annually, because the toddler’s first-ever trip had been to the farmers market about 27 hours after his birth. The family is part of a small but solid group of neighbors who view the market as a community gathering space and their main source of local food within walking distance.
Fair Haven’s market is smaller than Cityseed’s three others, with just four vendors, compared to more than a dozen at Wooster Square’s market. Wooster Square’s market was started up in 2004. The other three were created in 2005, said Nicole Berube, Cityseed’s executive director.
“I would say that the Fair Haven market on Thursday afternoon is more on the untraditional side,” she said. That’s not necessarily because of its size. It’s because 90 percent of money farmers get at the market is from government benefit programs, especially the WIC and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.
The market has a 2‑for‑1 EBT system, which matches up to $10 of coupons.
Aliyya Swaby Photo
90 percent of income comes from WIC or FNMP.
People redeemed $15,357 in WIC and Senior FMNP coupons at Fair Haven’s tiny market in 2015, compared to $12,636 at Wooster Square’s more popular Saturday market, according to Cityseed’s internal statistics.
Berube said many farmers markets have popped up in the vicinity and she feels the number of visitors start to plateau. But Cityseed has worked to dive in and “meet people where they are at,” satisfying their preferences for how to best access affordable, local food. For some, it’s easier to go to a grocery store that’s open half a day every day than aim to shop during the market’s two-hour slot – even if the food is healthier, she said.
Between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on opening day in Fair Haven, an official count of 94 people trickled in, browsed the baskets of fruits and veggies, and sometimes walked away with a bag or two of local food.
Susan Hackett wandered over from 1 Front S. She’s a loyal patron of the market, in part because she lives just up the road. She also goes to Wooster Square’s market and patronizes supermarkets like C‑Town on Grand Avenue and Stop & Shop on Whalley Avenue.
She can’t get enough of locally grown produce. She helps out at three different community gardens in the city. And there’s another right behind her building.
Not everyone walked to the market. Paul Lariccia drove from Stratford after seeing a post about the market online. He knows there are at least half a dozen farmers markets in and around Bridgeport. But he wanted to try this one. It’s smaller than he expected, he said, leaving the stand of Cecarelli Farms, a Fair Haven-market regular.
Cecarelli’s beets.
Northford-based Cecarelli also sells at Cityseed’s downtown farmers market, held Wednesday afternoons in front of City Hall on Church Street.
“We’re here every Thursday,” said the man behind the table. (“Just Luke,” he introduced himself, declining to give his last name.)
July is too early in the season for many vegetables, including corn, peppers, eggplant and squash, Luke said. The late spring frost didn’t affect his yield this year, he said. But the lack of rain is threatening to dry them out, reducing the amount they can sell.
“There’s only so much irrigation you can do,” he said.
As though summoned, several minutes later, billowing stacks of storm clouds rolled across the sky, punctuated by flashes of lightning. Beth Hutton, Cityseed’s market manager, started rushing around to tell vendors to pack up their fruits and veggies, that the market was closing more than an hour early.
The few neighbors who had braved the weather headed to their cars or started the walk back to shelter. Mateo Cruz’s birthday party scattered and headed to Grand Apizza. And the plants at the farms anticipated a much-needed shower.
Ironically, given it's large foreign-born population, Fair Haven has a definite lack of quality food. There is a prevalence of cheap, pesticide-laden produce at C-Town and other smaller markets. In addition, the meat offered is mostly tainted with antibiotics and growth hormones. It's hard to find good, safe food in Fair Haven. Other than the organic produce from certain farmers (e.g. not the huge farms like, Cecarelli), I wouldn't feed any of that stuff to an infant, much less an adult.
Why aren't there 'organic' farm vendors at Fair Haven market? Is that stuff only good enough for Wooster Square and Edgewood?